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.



Missing Person Photos

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

Ray Burssie Collins
missing person case update January 2023 found new details posted
missing person case update January 2023 found new details posted
missing person case update January 2023 found new details posted
missing person case update January 2023 found new details posted
missing person case update January 2023 found new details posted
Collins, date, approximate 1987; Dave Caffey, date, approximate 2008
Date Missing 07/01/1987
Missing From
Salida, Colorado
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Male
Race
Native American, White
Date of Birth 10/03/1929 (93)
Age 57 years old
Height and Weight 5'9, 150 pounds
Associated Vehicle(s) Toyota pickup truck (accounted for)
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Biracial (Caucasian/Native American) male. Brown hair, blue eyes. Collins speaks with a Southern accent. He has a scar on the bridge of his nose, and the tips of his pinky, ring and middle fingers on his right hand are missing due to a carpentry accident. Collins wears eyeglasses for reading.
Details of Disappearance Collins was last seen in Salida, Colorado sometime during July 1987. He resided in Winter Haven, Florida at the time of his disappearance. In July 1987, Collins and two friends, Dave Caffey and Richard Birth, quit their jobs and went to Salida on a three-month gem mining expedition. Three weeks into the trip, Birth had a family emergency and had to return home to Lake Wales, Florida.
Caffey stated Collins wanted to see the Grand Canyon, so Caffey dropped him off at a bus station in Colorado Springs, Colorado a few days after Birth quit. Collins's family found this story odd, as he had already visited the Grand Canyon several years earlier. He has never been heard from again. Later in July, Caffey returned to Florida driving Collins's Toyota pickup. Collins's clothing and mining equipment were still inside the vehicle.
A photograph of Caffey is posted with this summary. He had purchased $50,000 in life insurance on both Collins and Birth prior to the trip, which the men were aware of. Collins's policy was cashed in when he was declared ly dead in 1988; his brother collected half the sum and Caffey took the other half. Birth and Collins had given Caffey $5,000 each before the trip. Caffey told them they were mining on private land and he needed the money to lease the property, but in fact the land was public.
Collins's was reopened in 2008, and Colorado law enforcement officials traveled to Florida to interview Collins's mining partners. Police stated Birth has been very cooperative in the investigation, but Caffey has not.
Caffey is the prime suspect in Collins's disappearance. He reportedly bragged about killing Collins in the years following 1987. These statements have not been confirmed and, when interviewed by the press about Collins's disappearance, he said he did not know what happened to him.
Collins has work experience in the auto repair, carpentry and construction fields. He was married at least twice and has a large family to whom he was devoted. Foul play is suspected in his disappearance, which remains unsolved.
Investigating Agency
Chaffee County Sheriff's Office
719-539-2814
Other
The Ledger
The Mountain Mail
9 News
Chaffee County Sheriff's Office
Colorado Bureau of Investigation
NamUs

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.



Missing Person Photos

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