Missing Person "Mystery" Missing Link

The curious case of Jamie Waqa has taken a turn, with friends saying the "missing" Kings Cross man has been at home the entire time and police now labelling his family "cryptic".

Mr Waqa's family - who are in Tamworth - also reportedly spoke to him yesterday, although police say he will continue to be considered missing until they have spoken to him.

Police yesterday issued a media release saying they had "grave concerns" for Mr Waqa, 23, who was believed to be living in Kings Cross or Darlinghurst.

Read more here.

CA Police Criticized in Missing Girl Case

Police called the disappearance of 8-year-old Sandra Cantu a missing persons case, not an abduction, for 10 days — until some farm workers drained an irrigation pond and found her body stuffed in a suitcase. Some residents and a law-enforcement expert say authorities in Tracy should have publicly expressed more urgency about the case and warned of the danger that could be lurking in their Northern California community.

But police say that despite their initial uncertainty about Sandra's fate, they did everything they could, scouring the area, calling in reinforcements and exploring theories from dealing with a runaway to looking for a kidnapper.

"Until we had an indication that Sandra had been killed, we were treating this as a missing persons case," said Tracy police spokesman Sgt. Tony Sheneman.

"We had no indication of an abduction," he said. "We wanted to be as careful as possible.

Read more here.

Most Missing Adult Cases Unsolved

It was a warm night on June 30, 1996. Patricia Minassian finished bathing her 2-year-old son during a family vacation in Bourne.

Minassian told her in-laws she was heading to the car wash and was never seen again.

Her locked car was found a day later in the parking lot of Cahoon Hollow Beach in Wellfleet. There was no sign of the 37-year-old Hingham mother of three, no suicide note. She simply vanished. Her body has never been found. Her family doesn't know her fate.

Another family may be waiting to know the identity of the person whose bones were found last weekend in an East Falmouth cranberry bog.

Police are awaiting examination of dental records and DNA tests to determine whether the remains belong to a young East Falmouth man who was reported missing last June following a bout of depression.

But many missing person cases are never resolved. There are more than 40,000 unidentified human remains held in police and medical examiner property rooms across the United States, according to the FBI's National Crime Information Center.

Read more here.

Rescue Team Offers Free Services Statewide

The search for missing mother of two Kelly Morris exposed a void in local law enforcement: a fully equipped, rapid-response, search-and-rescue team that could carry out long, protracted operations.

That realization led to the creation of North Carolina Search and Rescue earlier this month. The all-volunteer group is available to law enforcement across the state at no charge.

“They get a free service at a time when budgets are tight. It’s overwhelming, the amount of manpower for us to pull 30, 40, 50 people together at one time. It’s just a phone call away,” said Nathan Huey, the CEO of N.C. Search and Rescue.

Read more here.

Statewide alert system for missing elderly and disabled inching closer toward passage

A widespread alert system for missing elderly, disabled or other vulnerable persons quickly passed a House committee this morning.

State Patrol Capt. Jeff DeVere envisions a notification system similar to the Amber Alert for missing children. The alerts could be broadcast on television and radio stations, as well as on freeway overpass reader boards.

DeVere said the State Patrol would work with agencies to create a localized alert system that would broadcast information about missing persons in the area where they disappeared or where they may have gone. He said agencies don't want to put out too many alerts because the public might grow so accustomed to seeing them that the notices are ignored

Read more here.

Reward Raised to $35,000 to Find Missing Toddler

A reward in the case of a missing Putnam County girl increased Tuesday to $35,000, thanks to a Jacksonville-based group that assists crime victims.

Representatives of various law enforcement agencies and the Justice Coalition gathered in Satsuma, near the home of 5-year-old Haleigh Cummings, to talk about the search for the child.

"We're looking for that one lead, that one tip, that will bring Haleigh home," said Putnam County Sheriff Jeff Hardy.

In a news conference, Haleigh's mother and father also spoke. The two talked to Haleigh, if she were watching during the televised conference, and told her they love her. They also addressed anyone who has Haleigh.

Read more here.

Parents Seek Info in Teen's Mysterious Death

The parents of a 16-year-old girl found dead in her car are hoping someone in the Baltimore area can answer the mystery of her death.

The 11 News I-Team reported Friday that there is evidence to suggest that Annie McCann committed suicide, but her case officially remains open.

Read more here.

PI Helps Family Search for Missing Teen

The family of a missing 14-year old California girl launched an all-out search Sunday morning that extended into the local mountains.

Hundreds of volunteers combed through rugged terrain in search for Amber LeeAnne DuBois, television news station San Diego 6 reported. DuBois was reportedly last seen shortly after 7 a.m. on Feb. 13 while walking to her high school in Escondido, Calif.

The FBI is “providing investigative assistance” to Escondido police, an agency spokesman told the San Diego Union Tribune on Saturday.

Read more at FoxNews.com.

Tracking Wanderers Made Easier

Protecting the elderly and youth in Knox County is the focus of a non-profit organization that uses electronic technology to locate missing persons.

Founded in 2005 as Project Lifesaver, the program will relaunch Feb. 1 as Rapid Recovery of Knox County. In coordination with the Knox County Sheriff’s Department and the Galesburg Police Department, the organization provides electronic monitoring bracelets to anyone suffering from mental conditions where they may wander and become lost. “The programs helps children suffering from autism or Down syndrome or adults with dementia or Alzheimer’s disease,” explained Rapid Recovery board member Marianne Wiesen. “Anyone who is inclined to wander away would qualify.”

The group owns 14 electronic monitoring bracelets which may be rented for a monthly fee to qualifying families. The rental fee provides a new battery each month and monthly maintenance on the bracelet by a trained volunteer.

Read more at The (Galesburg, IL) Register-Mail.

43 Katrina Victims Still Unidentified

On the corner of Canal Street and City Park Avenue, six granite buildings hold the final mysteries of Hurricane Katrina.

Here, in these mausoleums, are 43 bodies of unidentified victims — people whose fingerprints, dental records and DNA were not enough to shed light on who they were. Three-and-a-half years after the torrential floods killed 1,500 people across the Gulf Coast and put 80% of New Orleans under water, workers in the city's forensic center are still trying to close the book on Katrina's final chapter.

Read the full story at USA Today.

Brea Landfill Searched for Missing 82 Year-Old Woman

Authorities on Thursday began searching a Brea landfill with earthmovers and a cadaver dog in an attempt to find an 82-year-old grandmother who vanished this week.

The son of Sara Mowry reported her missing from her Laguna Niguel assisted-living home Tuesday, said Orange County Sheriff's Department spokesman Jim Amormino.

About 20 investigators arrived at the landfill, in the 1900 block of Valencia Avenue, at midday, acting on an investigative lead, officials said. Amormino declined to elaborate.

The investigation has not been labeled a homicide; Mowry is considered a "critical" missing person who disappeared "under highly suspicious circumstances," Amormino said. No suspects have been named.

Read more at the Los Angeles Times.

National Center for Missing Adults Being Run by Volunteers After Budget Cuts

Last year, Kym Pasqualini's nonprofit agency ran out of money.

For 15 years, the National Center for Missing Adults helped track the thousands of adults who go missing in this country every year — and did its best to reconnect them with their families. The agency operated on roughly $1 million annually, thanks to a federal grant.

But in 2005, the bipartisan bill that initially funded the grant expired. With no explanation, Congress failed to reauthorize it.

For two years, Pasqualini and her employees stayed alive by trimming operations, cutting services, taking pay cuts — and waiting for Congress to get its act together. By the fall of 2007, they were completely out of money.nt and may require same day, out of County, or out of State service.

Read how volunteers are working tirelessly to keep the NCMA alive.

Should "Silver Alerts" Become as Prevalent as "Amber Alerts"?

The missing-person case of Robert Ouellette of Cotuit makes the case for a statewide "Silver Alert" system like the "Amber Alerts" issued for missing and kidnapped children.

Florida followed the lead of a dozen other states and created a Silver Alert program in October. It's been used at least 19 times, and all the subjects were found.

Cape police — led by Barnstable — have done a good job making the 80-year-old Ouellette a priority, and other agencies and individuals have spent time and searched back roads and parking lots, too. But a statewide alert system would carry the urgency over the bridge to millions of more eyes that could be looking for Ouellette's light blue 2000 Mercury Marquis, license plate 472 BXC.

Read more at the Cape Cod Times.

Google Street View Helps Find Missing Child

Using technology more commonly seen in television crime dramas, an Athol police officer and a deputy chief in the town's Fire Department were able to track a woman and her allegedly kidnapped 9-year-old granddaughter to a motel in south-central Virginia.

They notified Virginia State Police, who yesterday arrested Rose M. Maltais of 14 Grove St. without incident around 4:15 p.m.

Natalie Maltais will soon be back home with her legal guardians after Virginia State Police found her with her 52-year-old grandmother, Ms. Maltais, at the Budget Inn in Natural Bridge, Va.

Read the full story at the Telegram Gazette.

Man Searches for Half-Brother, Missing for 47 Years

Children don't just disappear...

That's what most people living in Wichita Falls in the 1960s thought.

But Dec. 9, 1961, 11-year-old Andy Sims vanished, launching what has become a 47-year-old mystery — What happened to Andy?

Andy, who was in the fifth-grade at Jefferson Elementary School, lived at 4600 Stanford, a corner house tucked into a quiet neighborhood not far from what today is Southwest Parkway. That part of town has developed a lot since the early 1960s when it was a newer suburban area still surrounded by dairy and pasture land.

DNA Tests Match Feet Washed Ashore

DNA analysis has matched a pair of the feet that have washed up on B.C. shores this year, confirming they are from the same female and providing a small advance for investigators trying to solve the mystery that has drawn global attention.

"It helps. It allows us to confirm two cases are now one so investigators can focus," said Jeff Dolan of the B.C. Coroner's Service.

Online People Search Aids Christmas Reunion

Michael Taylor had never met his father, David, until they were reunited for the first time last week. The father and son met each other on Michael's 25th birthday, making the occasion even more special. Michael initially contacted Tracesmart in response to the company's Missing Person Campaign which has been running since March, and has helped to reunite many other families in time for Christmas.

Family of Missing Woman Hires Investigator

The family of a missing Thief River Falls, Minn., woman has enlisted the services of a private investigator to help look for Gina Anderson, who was last seen more than a month ago.

Investigator Gary Peterson, of Spring Valley, Minn., met with members of Anderson's family Sunday evening in Thief River Falls, said Anderson's sister, Jackie Pagel.

Family Not Giving Up Search for Missing Woman

There's an empty chair at her Thanksgiving table, but the mother of a missing Gaston County woman still has reasons to be grateful.

Kim Fraley is giving thanks for a new billboard offering a $10,000 reward to anyone who can help locate her daughter, 22-year-old Jamie Fraley. Fairway Outdoor Advertising donated the space, and the paper billboard was designed and placed by the Kristen Foundation.

Another Body Found In Louisiana Mystery Deaths

More than three years ago, Jefferson Davis Parish authorities began investigating the deaths of Jennings women who were known to live illicit lifestyles.

All the women were in their 20s and had escalated levels of cocaine and alcohol in their bodies when they were found in rural but public areas of the small, poor parish.
With a seventh body found shortly after noon today that is suspected to be that of the 17-year-old relative of one of the victims, officials are investigating tips but are without a lead suspect.

“It is a big puzzle and we’re putting those pieces slowly together,” parish Sheriff Ricky Edwards said. “It takes time and we have to do it right. We can’t just go out and do things and ruin the case.” All the women grew up in an economically disadvantaged section of Jennings within blocks of each other. They were at least acquaintances and traveled in the same circles.