I've taken a strange interest in missing persons cases. Last week, in a global issues class, we had to watch a documentary on child sex tourism, a worldwide problem and a multi-billion dollar industry. But I got to thinking about these missing children's cases, as I see them in my mail every day. Those coupon sheets I get in the mail feature a different kid who's been missing, some of them as long ago as the 1960's. I guess I was interested in what really happened to these people. Three years ago, three boys from Morenci, MI, just about 100 miles from where I live now, disappeared from their father's custody, and though they haven't found a body, the father is being charged with murder. (Good luck proving that, I think they'll need it.) I read about two boys who, according to their friends, plotted to run away from school in Jacksonville, FL, and haven't been seen since. That probably started as a runaway and later turned into a foul play case. A quick search of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's website reveals there's one kid missing from my town. The kid was 16 when he disappeared from home three summers ago, and they think it may be a runaway, but they're not sure. They also think he may have somehow traveled to the Dominican Republic. Where are they? What actually happened to them? People don't just vanish into thin air, and the not knowing must be god awful for those families. But they may actually still be alive. The three girls in Cleveland had been missing since 2002. Jaycee Dugard had been kidnapped in 1991 and was recovered 19 years later. One young woman not even that long ago grew suspicious about her birth certificate that seemed fake and the fact that she didn't have a social security number and found on their website that she'd been kidnapped as a newborn by a woman desperate to have a child who couldn't. I think I've found the topic for my newly-assigned research assignment for next week.
I find this topic interesting as well. In a book I was reading called Canadian crimes, the last few pages are all about people who just seemingly vanished off the face of the planet. For example, one was a 19 year old girl who went missing in 1950. She was at home alone with her brother. When he woke up, he couldn't find his sister and called his parents. Under her pillow was her sleep pants neatly folded but no shirt. Her bed had been slept in then made up. There was no sign of a struggle and nothing else was missing from the house. Also, the dog had slept through the night so it was unlikely anyone had broken in. Yet they never saw or heard from her again.
A lot of missing cases, are because of human trafficking.. There are gangs who kidnap children.. disable them and use them to beg for money.. which is horrible.. also people pay good money for organs in the black market.
You read stuff like that and you can't help but just wonder...I just want to be a fly on the wall when that happened. Just to see what happened because that truly is just interesting.
Looking through NCMEC's database, the oldest case in their system is a girl who disappeared in 1938 in Bradford, PA. The unidentified cases are even more intriguing to me. There was one in Detroit not too long ago, where one January, a body was found in the Detroit River, decomposed so badly the face was unrecognizable. They think that he either fell into the river or made the ill-advised decision to try and swim in the Detroit River and drowned the previous summer, and he was found the next January. And last summer, an unidentified cold case here in Michigan was solved. In March of 1982, a body washed up on the shore of Lake Erie in Monroe County, MI. Case went cold and 30 years later, DNA revealed that the body was that of a 17-year-old runaway from Portage, Indiana. She was last seen about a month before the body was found and wasn't even reported missing until June of that year. As for the killer was, we may never know. ---------- Post added 13th Nov 2013 at 06:32 PM ---------- Another thing is I may actually know someone who went missing. The woman who lives down the street from my parents who is married and has a teenage son has the exact same name, and looks the same as the girl in the photo. The girl ran away from home in Ann Arbor in 1970 at age 14. I've been mulling over whether or not I should say something.
I wonder what % might be suicides, who never left notes or shown any signs...or kids who just ran away, and died in the woods, or changed their names, and just severed all ties. It is certainly a curious area, though.
The person who ran away probably must've had a damn good reason to do so, probably like abusive parents or something of the sort. I'd respect their privacy. It also could just be that she was found and the website wasnt updated
Really interesting, AG. I see the billboards and amber alerts on freeways, and sort of wonder where they could be. On an international scale, Natalee Holloway of Alabama and Madeleine (sp) McCann of the UK are still unaccounted for. It must be so hard for these parents. For Natalee Holloway, you just don't expect foul play when you send your daughter on a school or group trip to the Caribbean. However, I've heard parts of it are indeed dangerous from what acquaintances were able to deduce from cruises they've taken. The paper every often carries stories on cold cases. Oftentimes, they are solved when bones are just sort of found in a meadow or a forest. I sometimes read them, but they can be creepy. It seems they are people who people sort of forgot, until they went missing. Articles have mentioned that some cold case detectives become almost compulsive at solving one or two cases they find compelling. That must be a frustrating motivator, unless that person has family members who care about and love them when closure is obtained. One that is weird, although different, is how many people wind up overboard on cruises. I knew a girl who was intrigued with this phenomenon. It could be alcohol, suicide, an argument, or very odd foul play for those. And, before they are found missing, the ship has traveled all those miles. For the kids who runaway, that's a formula for falling into the wrong company, especially as the money runs out. The stories are so sad that you almost don't want to read them. You seem that, when you find something interesting, you leave no stone unturned. I'm thinking this is a grade "A" research project in the making.
You know what else could be an interesting topic? Unidentified killers. There are a few killers who have never been found even though they've killed 6 or more people. The first three that jump to mind is Jack the Ripper, the Zodiac and the Tylenol killer.
I always have been fascinated with these kind of mysteries. I had a few family or friends of family that went missing long ago. It's a great topic.
