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

Ruben Gallegos
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
Gallegos, date, approximate 1992; Jenaro Torres
Date Missing 05/01/1992
Missing From
Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Male
Race
Hispanic
Age 19 years old
Height and Weight Unknown
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Hispanic male. Black hair.
Details of Disappearance Gallegos is originally from El Paso, Texas. He was living with his sister and brother-in-law in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii in 1992. and worked part time at the Navy exchange. He was assigned $80,000 to cash sailors' paychecks on May 1, 1992.
He was in his cashier's cage at the Pearl Harbor Submarine Base Exchange when Jenaro Torres, a Department of Defense police officer assigned to Pearl Harbor, escorted him out of the area. A photograph of Torres is posted with this summary. He was supposed to be on leave that day, but showed up at the Navy exchange in full uniform.
Gallegos was carrying all the Navy exchange money in a bag with him when he left with Torres. He has never been heard from again.
Military police arrested Torres six hours after Gallegos vanished. In his car was a Smith & Wesson handgun with one live round and three spent cartridges, his uniform, a portable police scanner, a stun gun and a bag which contained Gallegos's wallet and hairbrush and a key to the cashier cage.
All but about $2,000 of the missing money was also found wrapped in a trash bag inside a satchel in the trunk of Torres's vehicle. No blood or gunshot residue were found in the car, however.
Torres was originally charged with kidnapping Gallegos, but he pleaded guilty to theft and a firearms violation later in 1992 and was sentenced to two years in prison. Investigators believed he had murdered Gallegos while robbing him of the $80,000, but they did not have enough evidence to charge him at the time.
In December 2005, Torres was indicted for Gallegos's murder after additional witnesses came forward.
At his trial, Torres's attorneys argued that Gallegos was a willing participant in the Navy exchange robbery and is in hiding somewhere outside Hawaii to avoid consequences. Prosecutors argued that Torres was having financial problems in 1992 and committed the robbery as a result, killing Gallegos in the process.
Torres was convicted of second-degree murder in Gallegos's in March 2007. He was sentenced to life in prison, and the state parole board decided he must serve 75 years before he becomes eligible for release.
In December 2009, however, Torres's conviction was overturned on appeal. He spent more than three years awaiting a re-trial until he reached a plea agreement with prosecutors in March 2013. Torres pleaded no contest to first-degree assault. A no contest plea doesn't admit guilt, but concedes there is enough evidence to convict the defendant should the go to trial.
He was sentenced to ten years in prison, plus five additional years for using a gun in the commission of the crime. Prosecutors said the plea agreement was reasonable because three witnesses in the are now deceased.
Gallegos was close to his family at the time he went missing, but they have not heard from him since May 1992. He is described as a shy, naive young man who planned to attend Hawaii Pacific University in the future.
He had no passport at the time of his disappearance. His credit has not been used since 1992, his bank accounts have not been accessed, and he hasn't received any parking tickets.
Authorities have never found Gallegos's remains and Torres has refused to reveal their location. Investigators believe Gallegos's body may have been disposed in an isolated area near the Waipahu High School on the Waipio Peninsula.
Investigating Agency
Hawaii Attorney General's Office
808-586-1160
Other
The Honolulu Star-Bulletin
The Doe Network
The Honolulu Advertiser
KGMB 9
Hawaii News Now

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