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
Ta’Niyah Monique Leonard
Ta'Niyah, age 5 months: Ta'Niyah, age 11 months (about the time she disappeared); Age-progression to age 12 (date, approximate 2013); Michael Lewis; Miranda Jones
Date Missing 10/19/2002
Missing From
Bartow, Florida
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Female
Race
Black
Date of Birth 11/16/2001 (20)
Age 11 months old
Height and Weight 2'6, 20 - 30 pounds
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics African-American female. Black hair, brown eyes. Ta'Niyah has pierced ears and a light-colored birthmark on her right leg. Her nickname is Ny Ny (sometimes spelled "Nye Nye").
Details of Disappearance Ta'Niyah's mother, Miranda Jones, claimed she last saw the child when she dropped her off at her boyfriend Michael Lewis's apartment at the Azalea Gardens complex on Golfview Avenue in Bartow, Florida, at 10:30 p.m. on October 19, 2002, so he could babysit while Jones went out with friends.
Photographs of both Lewis and Jones are posted with this summary. Lewis claims that Jones picked up Ta'Niyah at 8:30 or 9:00 a.m. the next day and he has not seen the baby since; however, Jones claims she has not seen Ta'Niyah since October 19.
On October 20, Jones called the police to report a physical altercation between herself and Lewis. She said she went to Lewis's apartment on the evening of October 19 to get Ta'Niyah, and he told her the baby was at a friend's home. Jones went to the friend's home and found it vacant, so she returned and confronted Lewis.
Lewis allegedly threatened her and kicked her, knocking out several of her teeth. Lewis claimed Jones attacked him with a kitchen knife, cutting his hands, and he hit her in self-defense. Blood was found in his apartment and investigators took photographs of the wounds on Lewis's hands.
Police say it is possible that Ta'Niyah is being used as pawn in a domestic dispute between her parents. In a press interview in 2006, Jones stated she believed Ta'Niyah was alive and in the care of Lewis's family members.
She said there was dispute over the identity of Ta'Niyah's biological father and paternity testing had been scheduled for sometime after the baby's disappearance. Jones stated she believed Lewis took Ta'Niyah and hid her because he was afraid he would lose access to her if it turned out he was not her father.
Ta'Niyah is considered to be endangered. There is no physical evidence to indicate she is dead, and some investigators believe she may still be alive. However, Jones and Lewis, who continued to date each other occasionally, had another baby together a year after Ta'Niyah vanished and the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) moved to terminate their parental rights towards the infant.
The DCF's court petition stated Ta'Niyah was injured in a confrontation between her parents and is presumed deceased. Jones and Lewis's second child has since been adopted by another family. Lewis has been arrested at least six times since Ta'Niyah's disappearance, mainly on charges relating to disputes with Jones.
Investigators believe either Lewis or Jones is responsible for Ta'Niyah's disappearance and probable death, but they cannot proceed with charges against either of them due to a lack of evidence and due to the two suspects' conflicting stories.
Prosecutors offered both of them immunity from any charges if they would return Ta'Niyah alive, but neither Lewis nor Jones accepted the offer. Each one has implicated the other in the baby's disappearance, but no corroboration can be found for either version of events. Ta'Niyah's remains unsolved.
Investigating Agency
Bartow Police Department
863-534-5034
Other
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
Code Amber
The Tampa Tribune
The Barstow Police Department Cyber Connection
The Child Seek Network
Child Protection Education of America
The Ledger
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