Missing Person Photos
A missing person is a person who has disappeared and whose status as alive or dead cannot be confirmed as their location and condition are unknown. A person may go missing through a voluntary disappearance, or else due to an accident, crime, death in a location where they cannot be found (such as at sea), or many other reasons. In most parts of the world, a missing person will usually be found quickly. While criminal abductions are some of the most widely reported missing person cases, these account for only 2 to 5 percent of missing children in Europe.
By contrast, some missing person cases remain unresolved for many years. Laws related to these cases are often complex since, in many jurisdictions, relatives and third parties may not deal with a person's assets until their death is considered proven by law and a formal death certificate issued. The situation, uncertainties, and lack of closure or a funeral resulting when a person goes missing may be extremely painful with long-lasting effects on family and friends.
A number of organizations seek to connect, share best practices, and disseminate information and images of missing children to improve the effectiveness of missing children investigations, including the International Commission on Missing Persons, the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), as well as national organizations, including the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in the US, Missing People in the UK, Child Focus in Belgium, and The Smile of the Child in Greece.
Resources for Missing Persons
According to current statistics, 4,000 people in the United States go missing every day.
Sometimes a child suddenly vanishes from the bus stop or the local park or even from their own yard or bedroom. Or a teenager doesn�t return home after a walk to the neighborhood grocery store or a bike ride or a party with friends.
Other times, an adult is mysteriously absent from their job or neighbors haven�t seen them for several days, and family and friends haven�t heard from them either.
Missing Person Case Updates with Photos
Sylvia Ann Lee
Sylvia, date, approximate 1995
Date Missing 10/31/1995
Missing From
Campbell, California
Missing Classification Non-Family Abduction
Sex Female
Race
White
Date of Birth 03/26/1978 (44)
Age 17 years old
Height and Weight 4'11 - 5'0, 110 - 125 pounds
Clothing/Jewelry Description A black sweatshirt and black pants.
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Brown hair, brown/hazel eyes. Sylvia has a tattoo of her nickname, Shorty, on her left hand. She may dye her hair blonde or black.
Details of Disappearance Sylvia was last seen in Campbell, California on October 31, 1995. She said goodbye to her boyfriend and boarded a bus en route to a light rail station, where she planned to catch a train to her grandmother's home in San Jose. She never arrived and has never been heard from again.
Wilbur Atcherley pleaded guilty to Sylvia's murder in 2011, sixteen years after her disappearance. He was already serving 61 years to life in prison at the time; he had abducted another female and tried to kill her in 1999.
While in prison, on the fifth anniversary of Sylvia's disappearance, Atcherley contacted authorities and confessed to killing her. He said he met at the light rail station and she got into a taxi with him. He took her to a remote area in New Almaden, sexually assaulted her and killed her, then left her body in a creek bed.
Investigators checked his story and found cab records indicating a fare from San Jose to New Almaden on that date. Atcherley had 15 years added to his sentence for Sylvia's death.
Atcherley led police to the spot where he said he'd left Sylvia's body, but a search turned up nothing. Authorities believe her remains were washed away.
Investigating Agency
Campbell Police Department
408-866-2101
408-886-2708
Other
California Attorney General's Office
Vanished Children's Alliance
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
The Mercury News
KTVU 2
Missing Person Photos
A missing person is a person who has disappeared and whose status as alive or dead cannot be confirmed as their location and condition are unknown. A person may go missing through a voluntary disappearance, or else due to an accident, crime, death in a location where they cannot be found (such as at sea), or many other reasons. In most parts of the world, a missing person will usually be found quickly. While criminal abductions are some of the most widely reported missing person cases, these account for only 2 to 5 percent of missing children in Europe.
By contrast, some missing person cases remain unresolved for many years. Laws related to these cases are often complex since, in many jurisdictions, relatives and third parties may not deal with a person's assets until their death is considered proven by law and a formal death certificate issued. The situation, uncertainties, and lack of closure or a funeral resulting when a person goes missing may be extremely painful with long-lasting effects on family and friends.
A number of organizations seek to connect, share best practices, and disseminate information and images of missing children to improve the effectiveness of missing children investigations, including the International Commission on Missing Persons, the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), as well as national organizations, including the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in the US, Missing People in the UK, Child Focus in Belgium, and The Smile of the Child in Greece.
Resources for Missing Persons
According to current statistics, 4,000 people in the United States go missing every day.
Sometimes a child suddenly vanishes from the bus stop or the local park or even from their own yard or bedroom. Or a teenager doesn�t return home after a walk to the neighborhood grocery store or a bike ride or a party with friends.
Other times, an adult is mysteriously absent from their job or neighbors haven�t seen them for several days, and family and friends haven�t heard from them either.
Missing Person Case Updates with Photos