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
Steven Norman Chait
Chait, date, approximate 1972; Age-progression to age 65 (date, approximate 2016)
Date Missing 03/13/1972
Missing From
Manhattan, New York
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Male
Race
White
Date of Birth 05/09/1951 (71)
Age 20 years old
Height and Weight 5'10, 158 pounds
Clothing/Jewelry Description A winter jacket, a knit hat and a scarf.
Medical Conditions Chait may have been depressed at the time of his disappearance.
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian male. Brown hair, green eyes. Chait had a mustache and beard at the time of his 1972 disappearance. He wears eyeglasses. Chait has light scarring around his left eye.
Details of Disappearance Chait was a student at Columbia University in the New York City borough of Manhattan in 1972. He was employed at Mama Joy's Delicatessen on Broadway and 113th Street in Manhattan. Chait resided in Furnald Hall on the Columbia University campus. He was last seen on March 13, 1972 as he departed his dormitory room.
Chait had spent the day there lying in bed and listening to music. He gave no indication to his roommate that he planned to be out for an extended period of time. He left all of his personal belongings behind, including his books, passport, and uncashed paychecks. He has never been heard from again.
Chait is described as a serious, complex, studious youth who may have been depressed at the time of his disappearance. His mother stated her son was moody prior to his disappearance and believed he was letting everyone down; she believes he may have taken his own life, but hopes he is still alive. She stated he was a good student and very proud of getting accepted into Columbia, but became depressed and changed his major after he got a poor grade in an engineering course.
Chait's hobbies in 1972 included listening to classical music, relay running for the Columbia track team, and studying architecture and paintings; Chait was a member of the N.Y. Metropolitan Museum of Art and the National Gallery in Washington, D.C. He regularly donated blood to the Red Cross and was also a member of the Sierra Club, an organization dedicated to protecting the environment.
For twenty-five years following his disappearance, Chait's mother received several phone calls which she believes were from him. She would answer the phone and the caller would refuse to speak. She assumed the caller was Chait and spoke into the phone, telling him she loved him and asking him to come home. After several seconds the caller would hang up. The calls stopped coming in 1997 and the caller has never been identified.
Chait left behind his parents and a younger brother and sister. His father died in 2002, but the rest of his family is alive and they still hope he will be found. His sister established a track scholarship at Columbia in his name. His remains unsolved.
Investigating Agency
New York Police Department
646-610-6914
Other
New York Police Department
Steven Chait: Date Missing 1972
NamUs
The New York Times
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
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
