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

Theresa Elizabeth Baxter


Baxter, date, approximate 1977; Age-progression to an unknown age
Date Missing 08/01/1977
Missing From
Huntington Beach, California
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Female
Race
White
Date of Birth 10/23/1938 (83)
Age 38 years old
Height and Weight 5'2, 125 pounds
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Brown hair, brown eyes. Baxter may use the alias Geraldine Tootle.
Details of Disappearance Baxter was last seen in Huntington Beach, California sometime in the month of August 1977. Her two daughters went to the beach that day and when they returned, their father told them Baxter had run away with another man. She has never been heard from again.
According to Baxter's daughter Marie Plata, who was twelve years old in 1977, her parents' marriage was troubled, they fought often, and her father was prone to angry, violent outbursts. Baxter had once taken the children and left her husband, but they eventually returned home.
Plata stated that prior to her disappearance, Baxter had been a loving mother who cooked for the family, helped her children with their homework and was involved in the Girl Scouts. She looked through the house herself after her mother's disappearance and found Baxter's purse and driver's license hidden in the attic. Plata was unhappy at home and suspicious of her father, and she eventually ran away and was placed in foster care.
Baxter's husband never reported her mother missing; Plata did, in 1988. Police had her Social Security number and fingerprints on file, but could find no record of her anywhere in the country after the summer of 1977.
Plata believes her father either killed her or arranged for someone else to do it, but Baxter's husband is now deceased and was never charged in her disappearance. Her remains unsolved and she is considered missing under suspicious circumstances.
Many agencies list the date of Baxter's disappearance as June 1, 1977.
Investigating Agency
Huntington Beach Police Department
714-536-5951
Other
California Attorney General's Office
Orange Coast Magazine

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