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
Rita Marie Kowalski
Kowalski, date, approximate 2006
Date Missing 09/01/2006
Missing From
Battle Creek, Michigan
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Female
Race
White
Date of Birth 01/01/1978 (44)
Age 28 years old
Height and Weight 5'8, 216 pounds
Medical Conditions Kowalski had a history of addiction issues.
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Blonde hair, blue eyes. Kowalski may spell her middle name "Maria" or use the alias name Brandy Hough. She has a tattoo of the name "Rita" on the back of her neck, and her lower lip is pierced.
Details of Disappearance Kowalski was living with her grandmother in the Wattles Park area of Battle Creek, Michigan when she disappeared. A friend saw her in September 2006 and was going to take her to a drug rehabilitation facility in Grand Rapids, Michigan, but Kowalski wanted to visit a relative on Battle Creek Avenue first.
When she came out of the relative's house, she told her friend she had changed her mind about going to rehab. This is the last known sighting of her, and on September 26 that year, she was reported by the Michigan Department of Corrections as a parole absconder.
She last spoke to her mother on the phone on October 15, 2007; at the time, Kowalski refused to say where she was. She has never been heard from again. Her mother lives in the western United States and didn't report her daughter missing until 2011. Little information is available on the circumstances of Kowalski's disappearance.
Investigating Agency
Emmett Township Police Department
269-788-1760
Other
NamUs
Michigan Department of Corrections
The Battle Creek Enquirer
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
