Missing Children and the Media: The Wrong Kind of Family?

The case of Shannon Matthews, the missing nine-year-old from Dewsbury, has developed a cruel overtone: an unspoken suggestion that, because of their lifestyles, her family deserve not our pity but our censure.

For 23 days since her daughter went missing, Karen Matthews has answered questions. Some, such as whether she can identify discarded items of clothing and toys found near her home on an impoverished estate in West Yorkshire, are distressingly necessary parts of a huge police effort to find nine-year-old Shannon.

Person of Interest in Missing Investor Case Leaves State

A motivational speaker named as a person of interest in the disappearance of his business partner after a boat trip last month has left California to attend a bikers' week in Florida, "to look for the missing man," authorities said Friday.

Sheriff's Department officials said they cannot keep Gary A. Shawkey, 44, of Virginia from leaving Orange County while they continue to hunt for his investment partner, Robert Vendrick, a 71-year-old diabetic from Phoenix. Vendrick has been missing since Feb. 16, a day after he arrived in Southern California to meet with Shawkey and "highly placed government officials" to receive a $1.2 million return on his software programming investment.

MSU Student Charged with Roommate's Death

A Mississippi State University student has been charged with capital murder in the death of his roommate.

Oktibbeha County Sheriff's deputies arrested Bobby Batiste, 28, of 250 Sinai Rd., Preston, Friday, according to a news release from the department. Earlier that day, a missing persons report was filed for Andreas Galanis, 28, of Biloxi, who was also a student at MSU.

Vehicle Found in River, One Person Missing

Police are preparing to retrieve a vehicle from a swollen Grey River and believe it may contain a body.

Acting West Coast police area commander Senior Sergeant John Price said today it appeared the vehicle left the road after failing to take a bend north of Taylorville, 12km northeast of Greymouth, last night, plunged through bush and into the Grey River.

Oakland Cops Admit Erring on Missing Man

The bizarre case of a missing man whose body lay undetected inside a van seized by San Francisco police took another turn Wednesday when Oakland police admitted that they did not immediately notify San Francisco investigators about reports he was last seen there.

Police Suspend Search for Missing Pair

The police have suspended the active search for two college students who were said to be missing under mysterious circumstances, after one of the students telephoned a friend to say that they are fine.

Body Found in Missing Gran Search

POLICE searching for missing grandmother Fran Rosser today found a body.

Officers believe the body, found on a patch of woodland off an industrial estate in Pontyclun, is the 60-year-old beautician although the identity has not been confirmed.

The missing persons inquiry has now become a murder hunt and a man is being held in custody on suspicion of murder.

Photo Helps Solve Missing Persons

A simple black-and-white photo helped solve a mystery on Long Island more than 15 years in the making.

State police in Somers, N.Y., tried for years to identify a man found dead in the Titicus Reservoir on June 13, 1993, carrying 38 pounds of rocks in his backpack. He left no clues to his name and matched no local missing-persons reports.

Missing Man's Family Lives in Hope

Lee Sheppard was 26 when he disappeared near the recycling plant in northwest London where he had worked during a night shift early on January 31, 2003. His family has also hired a private investigator to help find answers.

Family is Missing

Avonlea RCMP is requesting the assistance of the public in locating a missing man and three young children.

Yesterday between 2:30 and 3:00 PM , Robert Reimer of Moose Jaw was last seen at the Avonlea hockey arena with his two sons Zackery and Nickolas as well as a friend of his children, Taylor Aikman.

Recently Solved Cold Cases Heating up Other Decades Old Investigations

Cold cases in Marshall County appear to be heating up.

After 22 long years, we finally know what happened to 26-year-old Wanda Mays, who disappeared May 1986 after spending the night with relatives in Guntersville.

This week Sheriff Scott Walls revealed she had a panic attack, ran into the woods and fell off a 150-foot cliff.

Desperate Plea to Find Missing Teen

Distraught mother Darlene Stennings is pleading for public help to find her missing daughter Alanah.

She hasn't left the phone since the 16-year-old's disappearance from West Moonah last Friday. And her ex-husband Ross has been scouring the state.

Why People Decide To Go Missing

Around 600 people will have got up this morning, decided to walk out the front door and simply disappear, and in doing so they will join the 210,000 people reported missing in the UK every year.

While many of those people who go missing later return, or eventually get in touch with family, there are thousands that do not. Some families never abandon hope of ever seeing their loved ones again.

Recent media attention has turned to a particular case of the missing canoeist, who after over 5 years of being missing and presumed dead, walked into a police station declaring himself a missing person.

Three States Look at Crime Links to Hilton

Authorities from Georgia, North Carolina and Florida met Tuesday morning to discuss possible links between Meredith Emerson's accused killer and several cases of other missing or dead hikers.

John Bankhead, spokesman for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, confirmed to the Journal-Constitution that investigators and prosecutors met for 1 1/2 hours Tuesday at the GBI's office in Cleveland, Ga.

Exclusive: Private Investigator Speaks Out About Szostak Case

"We strongly believe that somebody out there knows something, saw something, heard something or was told something about what happened to Josh," said Private Investigator Patrick Anastasi.

On December 22nd, Josh Szostak went out to hit the Albany bars with some friends. He parked outside the Elbo Room on Delaware and Morton. The group later went to the Bayou café downtown. After midnight, he separated from his friends - and vanished.

Could 'Into The Wild' Unlock Key To Suburban Teen's Disappearance

A new piece of information has been made public in a missing persons case: the search for 18-year-old Lee Cutler of Buffalo Grove, whose car and belongings were found abandoned in Sauk County, Wisconsin in late October.

WBBM's Steve Miller reports.

Found inside Lee Cutler's Toyota Corolla, which was abandoned in rural Wisconsin: a copy of the book "Into the Wild," the true story of a young man who leaves his parents and lives off the land in Alaska - until he dies either from eating poisonous plants or from starvation. Either way, an accidental death, apparently not a suicide.

Buffalo Grove Police Commander Steve Husak says Cutler's loved ones are clinging to the hope that Cutler is alive.

Cash Aims to Spur Response in Missing-Woman Case

The family of a Kamloops woman who disappeared in Las Vegas almost two years ago is hoping a $50,000 reward for information on her whereabouts will trigger a response from those who knew her at the time she went missing.

Glendene Grant, the mother of 23-year-old Jessie Foster, said she hoped the money would create the sort of leads that will help recover her daughter. The reward had previously been $10,000.

Pair Now Give Conflicting Tales of Last Time Missing Girl Was Seen

Seven years ago today, Kirsten Kryszak and the van she supposedly stole disappeared from the planet.

Josh Anders and Brent Wolverton, who once played in a local band called Interstate, are by their own admission two of the last people to see 18-year-old Kirsten Joy Kryszak and that 1988 blue Ford Aerostar van.

"I could see her taking off, to like, California," says Wolverton, who at the time was Kirsten's latest quasi-boyfriend and is now 31, married and living in a Southaven apartment complex.

Missing Child Alert Sparks Influx of Calls

An automated phone alert Christmas Eve sent to thousands of downtown and Milbrook residents about an 11-year-old runaway later found safe resulted in a surge of calls through the week from people left hanging about the girl's fate, Greenwich Police Lt. Richard Cochran said.

"Numerous people called not just to report information but wanting to know what was up and if she had been found," Cochran said. "There were a lot of additional calls to headquarters."

Family Search For Missing Mother of Five in Pueblo

A woman in Pueblo is worried sick about her adult daughter's whereabouts. It's been nearly three weeks since she has heard from Janet Renteria, 42, who is a mother of five. Police are searching for the missing Pueblo woman too.