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

Shaquita Yolanda Bell




Bell, date, approximate 1996; Michael Eric Dickerson
Date Missing 06/27/1996
Missing From
Alexandria, Virginia
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Female
Race
Black
Date of Birth 10/13/1972 (49)
Age 23 years old
Height and Weight 5'6 - 5'7, 150 - 170 pounds
Clothing/Jewelry Description A black and white plaid tank top, black spandex pants, black high-heeled shoes and a diamond bracelet.
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics African-American female. Black hair, brown eyes. Bell's ears are pierced. She has a tattoo on her left breast.
He was supposed to be driving Bell while she took two of her three children to a doctor's appointment. She called home at 2:00 p.m. to say she would be returning there shortly, but she never arrived and has never been heard from again. When questioned, Dickerson claimed he and Bell had gone to southeast Washington D.C. together and had an argument and she had left him there.
Bell's family believe Dickerson had been abusing her for some time prior to June 1996. Her mother stated Dickerson would not allow Bell to attend church, and neighbors reported hearing frequent loud arguments between the couple. A month before her disappearance, Bell told the police that Dickerson, who lived with her in Laurel, Virginia, had beaten her.
Dickerson was charged with malicious wounding and Bell moved in with her grandmother in Alexandria. She wrote down an account of the attack. Three weeks later, Bell reported that Dickerson had threatened her and held a loaded 9-millimeter gun to her head, and he was charged with unlawful possession of a firearm as a result.
After Bell's disappearance, her purse was found in the vehicle of Jonathan "Jody" Shields, a friend of Dickerson. Shields told investigators that Dickerson told him he had killed Bell in Washington D.C. Dickerson allegedly asked Shields for help in getting rid of the body. They traveled to Dickerson's house and Shields saw Bell's body lying in the yard. He says he acted as a lookout while Dickerson wrapped the corpse in a blanket and put it in his own car.
Shields and Dickerson then went to a wooded area alongside Old Fort Road in Fort Washington, Maryland, and Dickerson buried the body. Shields agreed to visit Dickerson in jail and wear an audio recording device in hopes of recording Dickerson's confession to Bell's murder. On June 6, 1999, day before the visit was scheduled, he was murdered. His murder remains unsolved.
In March 1997, authorities dug up the yard of Dickerson's parents' home in the 3200 block of G Street southeast in Washington D.C. They found no evidence relating to Bell's . Dickerson was convicted of beating Bell after her disappearance. Bell's handwritten account of the assault was used as evidence against him.
Bell was employed as a clerk at the Giant Food bakery at the time of her disappearance. She does not have a criminal record or any history of leaving without warning. Her loved ones don't believe she would have abandoned her children, the youngest of whom was only an infant in 1996.
Two of her previous boyfriends had been shot to death, and one of the homicides is considered to be drug-related. At the time of her disappearance, Bell was afraid for her life and kept a diary to be used as evidence in she was murdered.
In January 2008, while still incarcerated for assaulting Bell, Dickerson was charged with her murder and with the murder of another man, Sean A. Thomas, who was shot to death on the street in February 1996. Bell was interviewed by police about Thomas's murder in June 1996, and stated Dickerson had told her he committed the crime.
When police told Dickerson he was a suspect in Thomas's murder, he told them he knew Bell must have reported him. Investigators believe he killed Bell at least in part because she of her knowledge of Thomas's murder.
In October 2008, Dickerson pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in Bell's and also admitted to Thomas's homicide. As part of the plea agreement, he wasn't prosecuted in Thomas's . He led authorities to a wooded area in Prince George's County, Maryland where he says he buried Bell's body, but digging there has thus far not produced any evidence.
Dickerson will serve fifteen years in prison without parole eligibility. Foul play is suspected in Bell's due to the circumstances involved.
Investigating Agency
Alexandria Police Department
703-838-4444
Other
The Doe Network
The Washington Post
WJLA-TV
Officer.com
The Cleveland Examiner
NBC 4
The Washington City Paper
NBC Washington

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