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
Sarah Elizabeth Burton
Burton, date, approximate 2018
Date Missing 07/17/2018
Missing From
Joplin, Missouri
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Female
Race
White
Date of Birth 02/22/1990 (32)
Age 28 years old
Height and Weight 5'7, 160 - 170 pounds
Clothing/Jewelry Description A purple and white blouse, blue jeans and black flats.
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Brown hair, blue eyes. Burton's ears are pierced. She has a scar on her forehead.
Details of Disappearance Burton was last seen in Joplin, Missouri on July 17, 2018. A friend dropped her off at a service alley near 10th and Rex, and they parted ways at a business on Range Line Road. Burton planned to walk home from there. She never arrived. The last sighting of her was later that same morning, at a residence in northwest Joplin. Her friend who dropped her off contacted Burton's parents a few days later because Burton had left her purse and one shoe in the friend's car, and her parents reported her missing on July 20.
She last saw her parents on July 8, nine days before her disappearance. Her father had helped her buy a car, and they put the tags on it that day. However, on July 11, she had wrecked the new car in Pittsburg, Kansas. Her parents think she may have been afraid to let them know about the accident and was avoiding them while she tried to figure out what to do.
Burton had been a good student and placed in a program for gifted students, and at Joplin High School she was a cheerleader, but after graduation she struggled with methamphetamine and served a term in prison on a drug charge. She tried to turn her life around after her release, but continued to struggle with drugs and had a troubled relationship with the father of her two young sons.
At the time of her disappearance, she was living with her parents and they were trying to get her into a long-term drug treatment program. She was free on bail on charges of drug possession, trafficking in stolen identities and stealing a motor vehicle. But she was making all her court appearances, and her attorney thought she might be able to get a suspended sentence. Her parents don't believe she would have run away because of her problems.
The circumstances of Burton's disappearance are unclear. Her son's father was incarcerated at the time of her disappearance and isn't a suspect. Her remains unsolved.
Investigating Agency
Joplin Police Department
417-623-3131
Other
NamUs
Missouri State Highway Patrol
KOAM News
The Joplin Globe
The Kansas City Star
Sarah Burton's Facebook Page
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
