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
William James McAdams
McAdams, date, approximate 2015; Airplane that McAdams was flying
Date Missing 05/08/2015
Missing From
Palo Alto, California
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Male
Race
White
Date of Birth 07/14/1990 (32)
Age 24 years old
Height and Weight 6'2, 155 pounds
Associated Vehicle(s) Stolen single-engine 2011 G1000 Cessna Skyhawk 172S plane with the tail number N191TG
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian male. Brown hair, brown eyes. McAdams has a tattoo of an airplane on his shoulder. His nickname is Will.
Details of Disappearance McAdams was last seen in Palo Alto, California during the early morning hours of May 8, 2015. He worked as a flight instructor at the Palo Alto Municipal Airport. At 1:00 a.m., he took a single-engine 2011 G1000 Cessna Skyhawk 172S without permission and flew away, and has never been heard from again.
The plane, which has the tail number N191TG, has a range of about 500 miles. A photo of it is posted with this summary. It was picked up on radar at 2:45 a.m., approximately 70 miles off the coast of Watsonville, California, apparently flying southwest over the water at 134 miles per hour.
A few hours later, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) got a signal from the plane's emergency beacon, but the signal was so brief that the FAA was unable to track a location. It's possible the beacon was activated unintentionally.
McAdams was facing domestic violence charges in Florida at the time of his disappearance; he'd been arrested in Orange County on April 24 and charged with felony aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, felony false imprisonment and misdemeanor battery.
The charges stemmed from an argument he got into with a woman at an Orlando hotel; when she tried to leave, he allegedly attacked her with a knife. He bonded out of jail on April 27. He planned to plead not guilty, and his arraignment was scheduled for June 2. McAdams's family stated the allegations against him were uncharacteristic of his behavior.
McAdams was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, spent his childhood in Florida and moved back to Wisconsin for high school. After graduation, he enrolled in a flight school in Florida.
He wrote technical manuals on aviation training, worked as a flight instructor in Florida, started an aviation supply company in Tampa Bay area, and then founded his own flight school, Fly High Bay Area, in California in 2012. The school operates out of the airport in Palo Alto, but the plane McAdams was flying was leased to Advantage Aviation, a flying club he also worked for.
The Coast Guard initiated a search for McAdams and the plane after he disappeared, but then called it off. They stated a thorough search would have to cover approximately 120,000 square miles and they were not equipped to do that.
Authorities aren't sure whether McAdams fled to escape prosecution, committed suicide, or disappeared for some other reason. He missing under strange circumstances and his remains unsolved.
Investigating Agency
Palo Alto Police Department
650-329-2558
Other
California Attorney General's Office
The San Jose Mercury News
CBS News
The San Francisco Chronicle
The Los Angeles Times
The Daily Mail
The New York Daily News
Palo Alto Online
People Magazine
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
