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 Gene Trotter
Trotter, date, approximate 1995
Date Missing 07/03/1995
Missing From
Oroville, California
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Male
Race
White
Age 34 years old
Height and Weight 6'2, 190 pounds
Clothing/Jewelry Description Blue jeans and a t-shirt or tank top.
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian male. Brown hair, blue eyes. Trotter has a tattoo on his shoulder.
Details of Disappearance Trotter was last seen at his home in the 90 block of Lone Tree Road in Oroville, California sometime during the July 4 weekend in 1995. He has never been heard from again.
Blood and bullet holes were found in his home after his disappearance, and his truck turned up in the hills east of Oroville. Trotter worked as a truck driver for the Chico Drain Oil Co. He left behind a young daughter who was visiting relatives when he disappeared.
Days after his disappearance, Trotter was scheduled to testify as a witness at the spousal abuse trial of his former neighbor, Dennis Lindsey Oates. He and Oates had gotten into a fight a few days before Trotter's disappearance, and Oates accused him of having an affair with his estranged wife.
A witness saw Oates packing up Trotter's pickup truck outside his home the day Trotter disappeared. Oates allegedly said he and Trotter were going camping.
Trotter's body was never found in spite of extensive searches, but Oates was convicted of first-degree murder with a firearm in his . He is serving 35 years to life in prison and will be eligible for parole in 2022. He has refused to reveal the location of Trotter's body.
Trotter's daughter received approximately $90,000 in a wrongful death settlement against Oates. Foul play is suspected in Trotter's due to the circumstances involved.
Investigating Agency
Butte County District Attorney's Office
541-218-4408
Other
The Chico Enterprise Record
The Oroville Mercury-Register
Unsolved in the News
In Memory of Tom Trotter
Butte County Sheriff's Office
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
