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 Photos
Orson West
Orson, date, approximate 2020
Date Missing 12/21/2020
Missing From
California City, California
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Male
Race
Black
Date of Birth 06/11/2017 (5)
Age 3 years old
Height and Weight 3'0, 35 pounds
Clothing/Jewelry Description A black sweatshirt and gray or black sweatpants.
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics African-American male. Black hair, brown eyes. Orson's birth name was Classic Pettus.
Details of Disappearance Orson reportedly disappeared with his brother, Orrin West, from California City, California at 4:00 p.m. on December 21, 2020. They lived with their adoptive parents, Trezell and Jacqueline West. Trezell and Jacqueline have two biological children and two additional adoptive ones. That day, the other children were away visiting their grandparents.
The Wests had begun fostering Orrin and Orson in 2018 after they were removed from their biological parents' care, and had adopted them in 2019. All of the other children were removed from the home after Orrin and Orson were reported missing.
Trezell stated the two boys went missing from the backyard. They were playing with the family's dog, and Trezell was gathering firewood. He went inside briefly, leaving the back gate open. When he returned, the children were gone. Trezell stated he drove through the nearby streets looking for them and spoke to neighbors before calling the police a few minutes later.
The police brought tracking dogs to the house, and the dogs detected Orrin and Orson's scent inside the home but not outdoors. An extensive search turned up no sign of either of the brothers.
In December 2021, a year after Orrin and Orson disappeared, their biological father, Charles A. Pettus and grandmother, Brenda Pettus, filed a lawsuit against the state of California, the county of Kern, and Kern County Child Protective Services in connection with the boys' . The Pettuses allege that the boys' adoptive parents were improperly trained and supervised and this led to Orrin and Orson being placed in an unsafe situation, which resulted in their wrongful deaths.
In March 2022, after a three-month grand jury investigation, Trezell and Jacqueline were both arrested on five counts each: two counts of murder, two counts of felony child abuse and one count of filing a false report of an emergency.
Little information has been released about the evidence against them, but the district attorney announced that a combination of direct and circumstantial evidence would prove that both Orrin and Orson had died about three months before their adoptive parents filed the missing persons reports.
The Wests are awaiting trial. The children's bodies have not been located, but foul play is suspected in their s due to the circumstances involved.
Prior to moving to California City in September 2020, they'd lived in Bakersfield, California; Bakersfield police are investigating their s.
Investigating Agency
Bakersfield Police Department
661-326-3875
Other
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
23 ABC News
News Nation
Bakersfield Now
ABC 7 Chicago
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 Photos
