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
Stacey Lynn Balas
Balas, date, approximate 1996; Larry Wade
Date Missing 11/26/1996
Missing From
Fairview Park, Ohio
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Female
Race
White
Date of Birth 07/12/1971 (51)
Age 25 years old
Height and Weight 5'5 - 5'6, 130 pounds
Clothing/Jewelry Description A green shirt with the Subway logo imprinted on the front, black pants and black shoes.
Medical Conditions Balas was involved in an automobile accident in 1988, eight years prior to her 1996 disappearance. She was riding in a car that was hit by an 18-wheeler truck. She sustained massive head injuries in the crash. As a result, she has the mental capacity of a 15-year-old and may suffer from amnesia when she is under stress.
Associated Vehicle(s) Blue 1995 Nissan Pathfinder (accounted for)
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Brown hair, blue eyes. Balas's eye color may occasionally change to hazel. She has a tracheotomy scar on her throat. Her nickname is Spacey and she may use the alias names Sara Lindway and/or Sarah Lindway.
Details of Disappearance Balas was last seen at approximately 1:00 a.m. on November 26, 1996 in her hometown of Fairview Park, Ohio. She was employed at the Subway restaurant on west 220th Street and Lorain Road. Balas was locking the building for the night with the restaurant's manager at the time she was last seen. She never returned to her residence in North Ridgeville, Ohio that evening and has not been heard from again.
Balas was scheduled to work at 11:30 a.m. later in the day, but never arrived for her shift. Her blue 1995 Nissan Pathfinder SUV was discovered abandoned in the parking lot of the Cleveland Motel on Lorain Road at approximately 4:00 p.m. that day. The motel is located three blocks from the Subway restaurant. There was no sign of Balas at the scene, but her purse was inside the SUV.
Balas's credit card was used three times after she was reported missing: in Brooklyn, Ohio on November 26, in Brooklyn on November 28 and in Cleveland, Ohio on November 29. All of the charges were small ones, totalling less than $35. Her boyfriend was ruled out as a suspect in her .
Balas received a substantial insurance settlement after her car accident in 1988 and authorities looked into the possibility that someone had tried to take advantage of her and this caused her disappearance, but they found no evidence to support that theory.
In November 2005, Balas's manager at Subway, Larry Wade, confessed to her murder. A photograph of Wade is posted with this summary. He had been the prime suspect in her from the beginning, and was convicted of raping another Ohio woman three months after Balas vanished.
Wade was charged with aggravated murder, aggravated robbery and kidnapping in connection with Balas's disappearance. He stated he had strangled her in the Subway's kitchen after she rebuffed his sexual advances, and afterwards he dumped her body in a trash bin. Wade initially pleaded not guilty to the charges against him, but in May 2006 he pleaded guilty to Balas's murder and was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison.
Balas has never been located.
Investigating Agency
North Ridgeville Police Department
440-327-2191
Other
Justice For Stacey Balas
America's Most Wanted
MSNBC
The Fallen Wall
The Chronicle Telegram
The Canton Repository
The Cleveland Plain Dealer
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.
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
