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
Thomas Dean Gibson
Thomas, date, approximate 1991; Age-progression to age 24 (date, approximate 2012); Larry Gibson
Date Missing 03/18/1991
Missing From
Azalea, Oregon
Missing Classification Non-Family Abduction
Sex Male
Race
White
Date of Birth 07/05/1988 (34)
Age 2 years old
Height and Weight 2'5, 35 pounds
Clothing/Jewelry Description A purple sweatshirt, gray pants and black and white checkered sneakers.
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian male. Brown hair, brown eyes. Thomas had a gap between his upper front teeth at the time of his 1991 disappearance. His nickname is Tommy.
Details of Disappearance Thomas was last seen playing in the front yard of his family's residence in rural Azalea, Oregon at approximately 11:30 a.m. on March 18, 1991. He has never been seen again.
Thomas's father, Larry Gibson, then the Douglas County Deputy Sheriff, told authorities he took a jog around the family's property in Azalea during the late morning hours of his son's disappearance. Larry carried a handgun with him to shoot stray cats, many of which had been living on the property.
Larry claimed he shot at a cat near the area where Thomas was playing, but missed the animal. He then continued on his jog and learned his son was missing after returning to the house approximately 45 minutes later. A photo of Larry is posted with this summary.
The family summoned law enforcement later in the day to search the property. Larry was told not to report to work at the sheriff's office, but apparently dressed in his uniform and left the property for approximately 25 minutes during the investigation.
He stated that his four-year-old daughter witnessed an unidentified couple pull into their driveway and abduct Thomas. Larry said he was checking a local rest area for signs of Thomas and the couple. While members of the community searched for Thomas, Larry sat at home; at one point he told the searchers to give up and go home because it was snowing.
Authorities believed that Larry shot at a stray cat and killed the animal, as a deceased cat was located on the Gibsons' property near Thomas's last known location.
Investigators believed that the bullet traveled through the cat and struck Thomas as he played, killing him. They theorized that Larry noticed Thomas's body after returning from his jog and buried the child in an effort to conceal the crime.
Larry denied this scenario and maintained his innocence throughout the investigation. He resigned from the sheriff's office and moved to his native Montana after his son's disappearance. He and his wife separated in 1994, and she took their three other children and moved back to Oregon.
Larry's estranged wife and his daughter later changed their stories to authorities and said that his daughter witnessed her father hitting Thomas. Larry then put the child's body in a black plastic garbage bag, put the bag in the back of his patrol car and drove away. He was charged with murder in Thomas's in 1994.
Prosecutors argued that Larry had a history of abusing his children and was under stress at the time of Thomas's disappearance, as he had to care for the children while his wife was taking college classes. They theorized that, if he did not accidentally shoot his son, Larry lost his temper and beat the child to death.
Larry was ultimately convicted of second-degree manslaughter in 1995, although he continues to deny any involvement. He was released from prison in 1996 and has since published a website appealing for information on the whereabouts of his son.
Thomas has never been located. His remains classified as a non-family abduction.
Investigating Agency
Douglas County Sheriff's Office
503-440-4450
Other
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
Child Protection Education of America
NamUs
Douglas County Sheriff's Office
Unsolved Mysteries
Tommy Gibson
The Seattle Times
The Columbian
The Statesman Journal
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
