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
Tracy Jo Shine
Shine, date, approximate 1987; Michael Neal
Date Missing 04/08/1987
Missing From
Harris County, Texas
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Female
Race
White
Date of Birth 12/07/1962 (59)
Age 24 years old
Height and Weight 5'2, unknown weight
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Blonde hair, brown eyes.
Details of Disappearance Shine was last seen in Harris County, Texas on April 8, 1987. Authorities believe she was murdered by her live-in boyfriend, Michael Durwood Neal, in their house in the 7900 block of Machala in northwest Harris County. He mistakenly believed she'd told the police about his criminal activities.
A photo of Neal is posted with this summary. He was a drug dealer and a member of the Aryan Brotherhood, a white supremacist gang.
Investigators believe Neal stored Shine's body in a refrigerator for several months and then dissolved it in muriatic acid. By the time they recovered the refrigerator, it was empty and had been cleaned with bleach. Investigators were able to match a single hair and a small amount of human tissue found inside it to Shine's mitochondrial DNA.
Neal was charged with Shine's murder in March 2000. In January 2001, he pleaded guilty and led police to the strip mall near Jones Road and FM 1960 where'd he put Shine's body in a garbage bin.
Neal was already serving a life term for aggravated assault when he pleaded guilty; he was sentenced to life for Shine's murder, to be served concurrently to the other life sentence. He is now deceased.
Shine's mother stated her daughter had a normal childhood and was a talented dancer who was accepted to a prestigious performing arts high school in Houston, Texas. However, in high school she got involved with drugs and eventually dropped out. She moved in with Neal at age eighteen.
Shine's body has never been found and was probably taken to the city landfill. Foul play is suspected in her due to the circumstances involved.
Investigating Agency
Harris County Sheriff's Department
Other
The Houston Chronicle
MurderVictims.com
The Los Angeles Daily News
Forensic Files
The Houston Chronicle
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