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
Zoila Mariza Salcedo
Salcedo, date, approximate 2003; Arturo Velazquez-Celon
Date Missing 05/16/2003
Missing From
Houston, Texas
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Female
Race
Hispanic
Date of Birth 06/28/1976 (46)
Age 26 years old
Height and Weight 5'5, 130 pounds
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Hispanic female. Brown hair, brown eyes. Some agencies refer to Salcedo as Mariza Salcedo or Zoila Mariza Salcedo Alvarazo. Her ears are pierced.
Details of Disappearance Salcedo was last seen departing her apartment in the 1500 block of Hollister Street in Houston, Texas, on May 16, 2003. She was accompanied by 43-year-old Arturo Velazquez-Celon (sometimes referred to as Arturo Velasquez) at the time.
Photographs of Velazquez-Colon is posted with this summary. Salcedo said she was going to take him to an eye doctor in either Houston or Austin, Texas. They drove away in Salcedo's green Ford Explorer. The last contact Salcedo's family had with her was between noon and 12:30 p.m. that same day.
On May 21, five days after she was last seen, Salcedo's car was found in the 7200 block of Pinemont Street, at the apartment complex where Velazquez-Celon lived at the time. There was no sign of the whereabouts of either of them at the scene, but evidence of a struggle and blood matching Salcedo's DNA was found in Velazquez-Celon's apartment. Her purse and driver's license were also inside the residence.
On June 6, Salcedo's was reclassified as a homicide due to the suspicious circumstances in her , and Velazquez-Celon was charged with her murder. He apparently purchased a bus ticket to San Luis, Mexico just hours after her disappearance and may still be in that country.
Velazquez-Celon's friend who gave him a ride to the bus station said he had Salcedo's cellular, phone but Salcedo was not with him. The friend says Velazquez-Celon seemed very eager to get out of Houston, but he did not tell his boss that he was quitting his job. He has family in Mexico but they say they have not heard from him since May 2003.
Velazquez-Celon has not been located by police and neither has Salcedo. They worked in the same building together and were friends. Velazquez-Celon has previously lived in Chicago, Illinois, where he used the alias Rene Martinez. His date of birth is May 30, 1960.
Salcedo left behind a small daughter when she disappeared and her family says it is uncharacteristic of her to abandon the child. Foul play is suspected in her disappearance due to the circumstances involved.
Investigating Agency
Houston Police Department
713-731-5223
Other
Texas EquuSearch Mounted Search and Recovery Team
Houston Police Online
ABC 13
Click2Houston
North American Missing Persons Network
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