The family of 63 year-old Kenneth Wayne Jimson is still
waiting for answers in his mysterious disappearance from Shelby, North Carolina
almost two years ago. When he was reported missing back in December of 2017,
authorities issued a Silver Alert for Kenneth because they believed that he was
coping with a cognitive impairment. Like many other missing individuals with
cognitive impairments, case progress has been stalled because of the transient
nature of missing persons with those impairments.
According to the Shelby
Star, the last confirmed sighting of Kenneth was in the vicinity of Care
Solutions on East Grover Street in Shelby, North Carolina. He underwent a minor
outpatient medical procedure that was performed the day he disappeared. His
wife reportedly called a cab to pick him up after he was discharged from Atrium
Health in Shelby. However, Kenneth never caught the cab. The last confirmed
sighting placed Kenneth headed in the direction of a local Bojangles.
At the center of this frustrating search are Kenneth’s loved
ones, who only grow more desperate for answers in his disappearance. His
sister, Lauree Butler, told the Shelby Star, “It’s hard not knowing if he’s
alive or dead.” A few months after Kenneth was reported missing, there was a
ray of hope when witnesses in the southern region of the county reported seeing
a man who fit his description. However, authorities were not able to follow
through on the lead while it was still active. They failed to catch up with the
tip, and the trail once again went cold. “Every time the police would show up,
there would be nothing,” Lauree Butler told the Shelby Star. “He had been in a
wreck…His mind wasn’t what it should be.”
According to the family, Kenneth had wandered off once
before, and he was located headed in the direction of Gaffney, South Carolina. As
of March, 2019, authorities said that they believed Kenneth could be in that
same area, and have been working with his family in order to determine where he
might have gone.
Kenneth Jimson is 5-feet, 10-inches tall and weighs around
200 pounds. He has short back hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing
black jeans and a black jacket. Kenneth has a dent in his forehead from a
previous medical procedure. Anyone with information about Kenneth Jimson should
call the Shelby Police Department at 704-484-6845.
(On any given day, nearly 100,000 people are listed as active missing in the United States. Photo courtesy Creative RF/Getty Images.)
Most of us are aware of our inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. But for most American’s there is a lesser-known right . . . the right to go missing.
As of April 30, 2018, there were 86,927 active missing person cases in the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) at the Federal Bureau of Investigations. Of that number 14,411 are listed as endangered by authorities.
While most cases will resolve quickly, others date back decades.
“If you, as an adult, want to take off and need some time alone, you’re entitled to do that,” according to St. Cloud Police Assistant Chief Jeff Oxton. “That’s the right to go missing and can generate legitimate and sometimes illegitimate concerns from others.”
At the age of 18, going missing is not considered an offense. Unless the adult has been found to have significant issues with mental health, or if they are legally under the care of another person, it is not a crime to go missing and most resolve without incident.
“Most missing persons, we find them OK,” said Oxton. “We find there’s been a misunderstanding, or there was another reason they weren’t where they were supposed to be.”
However, that doesn’t always mean that all missing person cases are resolved with expediency.
(Missing Marine veteran Jesse Conger vanished from his Scottsdale home August 14, 2019.)
Police in Scottsdale, Ariz., are searching for missing Marine veteran Jesse Conger who vanished without a trace on August 14, 2019. Loved ones fear he may be suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and depression. Conger had served for 10 years and deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan during his military service.
Authorities say Conger was last seen at his apartment in Scottsdale by his girlfriend Natasha Harwell and may be driving a 2015 Toyota Camry with Nevada license plate number 696G03.
“I asked him to get help. He kept telling me, ‘No.’ but I feel like I should have insisted a little bit more,” Harwell said.
When Conger did not come home and never answered her calls or texts, she reported him missing. She noticed his gun was missing but all other personal belongings left at his home, including his wallet with identification, debit card, credit card, and all necessities. His service dog was also left behind.
“I feel like all the times before when he has done this, it was more like—you could know something was about to happen. He would talk to me about it, I could talk to him. This time he just picked up and left,” said Harwell.
(Jesse Conger is a United states Marine with PTSD who has been missing for a month from Scottsdale, Ariz.)
The search has gone viral after a tweet from Pulte Group CEO Bill Pulte offered a $30,000 reward to help find Conger.
“I don’t know if I would be alive without my twin brother,” Patricia Conger said. “He’s always been with me. I want you to come home Jesse, please come home and I love you.”
Scottsdale Police Department is treating Jesse Conger’s case as an “endangered missing person” and added him to the NCIC system at the FBI.
What Happens When a Missing Person is Entered Into NCIC?
Once someone is entered into the NCIC database they are flagged as missing making their information available nationwide. For example, if they disappear from California and get pulled over or questioned by authorities in Arizona, police are quickly able to run their information through NCIC and make a determination if the individual is possibly a danger to themselves or others. This enables authorities to take them to the hospital.
There are five categories in NCIC that a missing person can be classified in.
Juvenile
Endangered
Involuntary
Disability
Catastrophe
Other
When a person is added to NCIC, it makes their descriptive and automobile information available to all law enforcement agencies, medical examiners and Coroners in the country.
It is a common misconception that when an adult goes missing, a reporting party must wait 24 hours before making a report to police.
“There’s just not (a waiting period,)” Oxton said told the Sy. Cloud Times. “And I think that comes back to, you know, people see it on TV, or whatever, that they have to be missing for 24 hours. But that’s just not true.
In fact, there is no national mandate that requires one to wait before going to the police to report an adult missing.
However, when a child goes missing there is a national mandate requiring law enforcement to accept an immediate missing report, report it to the FBI and enter the person’s descriptive data into NCIC. This is due to the age and vulnerability. Though this national mandate does not apply to missing adults, there still exists no required waiting period to report them.
When there is a reporting delay for some reason, or something bad has happened, the first two hours are critical.
After receiving a missing person report, police will attempt to find the person in question, which may include contacting the person who made the report, along with friends and family, hospitals and jails.
If police discover the person went missing on their own accord, legally police cannot tell the reporting party where they are if the missing person does not wish friends and family to know. Police can let the reporting party know they are alive and well and do not wish contact.
Authorities are expected to make informed judgment calls about whether the missing person is at risk of death or injury. If the person is considered “endangered” it adds more urgency to the case, meaning law enforcement has received enough evidence that the person is at risk for personal injury or death due to one of the following:
the person is involuntarily missing or result of an abduction;
the person is missing under dangerous circumstances;
there is evidence the person is in need of medical attention or needed medication such as insulin, that would severely affect the person’s health;
the person does not have a history of disappearing;
the person is mentally impaired or has diminished mental capacity, such as someone with Alzheimer’s or Down Syndrome;
the person has been the subject of acts of violence or threats;
there is evidence the person may be lost in the wilderness or after a catastrophic natural event;
any other factor that law enforcement believes the person may be at risk of physical injury or death.
Once there is a report on a missing person, it then becomes crucial that law enforcement obtain dental records, fingerprints and have the family submit a DNA sample into the Family DNA database.
Records and samples are regularly cross-referenced with Unidentified Persons, alive and deceased for matches.
Jesse Conger is listed as “endangered” in NCIC due to his mental state when he went missing. But what happens when the trail goes cold?
Until a missing person is found, their entry in NCIC remains active. Once entered police do not stop investigating the case and following up on every lead that is provided by the public.
However, some cases, like Conger’s do not resolve right away and it becomes necessary and effective for police to ask for the public’s help to generate new leads.
Family and friends commonly try to engage the public and community to help find the missing person, including setting up Facebook Pages to generate leads and offer rewards for information.
Behind every missing person appeal, and every headline is an individual story and a family experiencing heartbreak.
“For law enforcement, at times searching for a missing person is like searching for a needle in a haystack,” says Thomas Lauth, a missing person expert, and CEO of Lauth Investigations International. “Often an effective investigation is a cooperative effort between law enforcement, the public, and the media.
Lauth has worked on missing person cases for over 25 years, working with local, state and federal law enforcement. “Generating that one lead that law enforcement needs to progress with the investigation becomes of utmost importance.”
Inevitably some cases go cold but that doesn’t mean the case is closed or impossible to solve.
“While missing persons have the right to go missing, the police still pour all of their resources into investigating the disappearance which should be reassuring to families who are experiencing the trauma of having a loved one missing,” says Lauth.
Suzanne “Suzi” Streeter, Stacy McCall and Sherrill Levitt
Suzanne Streeter, 19, along with her mother Sherrill Levitt, 47, and best friend Stacy McCall, 18, all vanished June 7, 1992 from Springfield, Mo.
The girls had planned on staying at a hotel in Branson, Mo., then visit the White-Water amusement park in the morning. Stacy called her mother to tell her they instead decided to stay at a friend’s home in Battlefield, Mo.
After the police were called due to a noise complaint, the two girls head over to Sherrill’s house to spend the rest of the night.
Sherill had been home that evening and the girls arrived at approximately 2:15 a.m.
The following morning their friends tried to reach Stacy and Suzanne at the mother’s residence, phoning and stopping by but they could not be located. All the women’s personal belongings were found inside the home but the three were never found. The only physical evidence left at the scene was a broken porch light.
If you have any information regarding the whereabouts of Suzanne Streeter, Stacy McCall or Sherrill Levitt, please call the Springfield Police Department at 417-864-1810.
Charlene Voight
Charlene Voight, 36, had just graduated from Cal Poly Pomona with a degree in Landscape Architecture and excited to start in her new career path. She decided to pursue her career and relationship and travel from Calif., to Littleton, Colo., and move in with her boyfriend.
After not hearing from Charlene for several days, her parents reported her missing on July 8, 2016. Her car was found abandoned in a gravel lot about a block from the apartment complex she had been living with her boyfriend.
A few weeks after Charlene vanished her boyfriend was arrested on unrelated charges of sexual assault involving another woman.
Authorities searched a Commerce City landfill in March following her disappearance, but the search ended after four months. Police never made public what prompted them to conduct a search. Charlene’s was not recovered; however, they did locate some of her clothes, now undergoing DNA testing to see if they link to a suspect in her disappearance.
If you have any information regarding the disappearance of Charlene Voight, please call Littleton Police Department at 303-794-1551.
Sarah Galloway
Sarah Galloway, 38, has Down’s Syndrome. On the morning of March 21, 2019, she vanished from the front porch of her rural home in Picture Rocks, near Tucson, Ariz. Sarah functions at the level of an 8-year old child and very trusting of people. Her mother Sherry Galloway says, “Nobody is a stranger to Sarah.”
Volunteers immediately canvassed the area surrounding the residence, along with canines and aerial searches but the ground searches were later called off because they produced no leads. Pima County Sheriff’s Office says the investigation is ongoing.
If you have any information about the disappearance of Sarah Galloway, please call Pima County Sheriff’s Office at 520-88-CRIME (27463).
Corinna Slusser
Corinna Slusser, 19, was last seen in the early morning hours of September 20, 2017, at the Haven Motel in Queens, New York.
Two months earlier in July, Corinna contacted her mother and told her that she had met a man who had offered her a place to stay in New York City. She immediately left with only her cell phone, identification, and the clothes on her back. Daily, Corrina was on Facebook and Instagram, but all social media activity has since stopped. Her family fears Corinna has been kidnapped into sex trafficking.
NYPD says the investigation is ongoing.
If you have any information about the disappearance of Corinna Slusser, please call NYPD at 800-577-TIPS (8477).
Keith Bailey
Keith Bailey, 48, vanished August 6, 2019. He went to a three-mile walk before work that Tuesday morning, but his wife Nikki Bailey later found out he never arrived at work. His cell phone was last pinged on Highway 87 heading northeast to Payson, Ariz. He was driving a newly purchased dark-gray 2018 Toyota Tacoma truck with temporary license plates.
His credit card revealed he had filled up on fuel in Payson but there has been no further activity on their bank account.
Keith is the principal materials engineer for ARTL Laboratories in Phoenix. “He wasn’t sleeping,” said his wife Nikki. “He was having trouble going to work. And he loved that job.”
If you have information about the disappearance of Keith Bailey, please call the Phoenix Police Department at 602-262-6151.
Elaine Park
Elaine Park, 20, vanished during the early morning of January 28, 2017, in Calabasas, Calif. Elaine had driven to her on again – off again boyfriend’s home to stay the night but he told authorities that Elaine had a panic attack around 4 a.m. the following morning. He said he tried to get her to stay at his home, but she left in her vehicle.
Three days later Elaine’s 2015 Honda Accord was found abandoned on the shoulder of Pacific Coast Highway unlocked with the keys still in the ignition. Authorities found her cell phone and other personal belonging s inside the car.
If you have any information about the disappearance of Elaine Park, please call the Glendale Police Department at 818-548-4911.
Stacey Smart
Stacy Smart, 51, has been missing from the small Trinity County town of Lewiston, Calif. According to the Trinity County Sheriff’s Office, she vanished October 12, 2016, from the home she shared with her boyfriend.
Stacey’s daughter Nicole Santos said her mother usually celebrated Halloween with her but when she didn’t show up at her home that night, Santos went looking for her the following day and found out her mother’s friends had not seen her for weeks. Trinity County Sheriff’s Office says the investigation is ongoing.
If you have any information regarding the disappearance of Stacey Smart, please call the Trinity County Sheriff’s Office at 530-623-3740.
Logan Schiendelman
Logan Schiendelman, 19, vanished May 19, 2016, from Tumwater, Wash. Raised by his grandmother, she pinged his cell phone that revealed Logan was in the area of his mother in Olympia. Furth activity on his phone indicated he had driven south on Interstate 5, then back north, then south again, then north, then south again.
His black, 1996 Chrysler Sebring was later found abandoned on Interstate 5 between Tumwater and Maytown. Several drivers called 911 describing a man jumping out of his vehicle and running into the woods.
Foul play has not been ruled out in this case. There is a $10,000 reward for information leading to his whereabouts.
If you have any information regarding the disappearance of Logan Schiendelman, please call the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office at 360-786-5599.
Jasmine Moody
Jasmine Moody, 18, a nursing student at Texas Women’s University, went missing on December 4, 2014, from Detroit, Mich.
Jasmine had met a woman through social media and traveled from her home in Texas to Detroit to visit the woman and her family for the Thanksgiving holiday. On the evening of December 4, Jasmine and the woman for into an argument about Jasmine’s social media posts and has never been seen again.
The woman told authorities that Jasmine had left her home and ran out into the cold leaving her cell phone, purse and identification at the home. Foul play is suspected in this case.
There is a $2,500.00 reward for information that leads to the whereabouts of Jasmine.
If you have any information regarding the disappearance of Jasmine Moody, please call the Detroit Crime Stoppers at 1-800-SPEAK-UP.
Kristen Modafferi
Kristen Modafferi, 18, vanished on June 23, 1997 in San Francisco, Calif.
Kristen was an industrial design major at North Carolina University and traveled to San Francisco to attend a summer photography course at the University of California at Berkeley.
She was employed part-time at Spinelli’s coffee shop at the Crocker Galleria in the financial district of San Francisco. She also worked at Café Musee inside the Museum of Modern Art on the weekends.
On June 23, Kristen asked a coworker at Spinelli’s for directions to Baker Beach which is located next to Land’s End Beach west of the city. Her shift ended at 3:00 p.m. that day, but she was seen on the second level of the Galleria with an unidentified blonde woman. That woman has never been identified.
Despite thousands of leads and appearances on national television shows nothing has led to information that would lead to Kristen. Police say the investigation is ongoing.
If you have any information about the disappearance of Kristen Modafferi, please call Oakland Police Department at 510-238-6341.
There is an epidemic of missing and murdered mothers in the United States. Many missing and murdered moms get a great deal of press coverage, but for some reason, their cases go unsolved.
Among these missing and murdered moms is Marlen Ocha-Lopez. Marlen Ochoa-Lopez, 19, was a dark-haired beauty and nine months’ pregnant when she went missing April 23, 2019, in Chicago, Ill. That day Ochoa-Lopez had attended classes at Latino Youth High School in Chicago, planning to pick up her 3-year old at daycare later that day.
According to police, prior to her disappearance she had appealed to other mothers on a Facebook group called “Help a Sister Out,” asking for help securing a double stroller for her toddler and new baby.
A high-school student, Ochoa-Lopez wrote in a post that she was unemployed and short on cash, and willing to buy, trade, or accept the double stroller as a donation.
A woman had responded to her Facebook post with an offer to provide baby clothes and other items. The woman then directed Ochoa -Lopez to private message her for more information. Ochoa-Lopez had purchased baby items from the woman before.
On May 14, 2019, the body of Ochoa-Lopez was found stuffed inside a garbage bin in the backyard of the woman who had offered her baby supplies.
Ochoa-Lopez had been strangled with a cable and her unborn baby forcibly removed from her womb.
(Arrested in the death of Marlen Ochoa-Lopez; Clarissa Figueroa, daughter Desiree Figueroa, and boyfriend Piotr Bobak.)
Police arrested the woman from the Facebook post, Clarisa Figueroa, 46, along with her daughter Desiree Figueroa, 24, both charged with first-degree murder and aggravated battery of a child less than 13 years old. Desiree Figueroa’s boyfriend Piotr Bobak was charged with concealing the death of a person and one felony count of concealing a homicidal death.
“Words cannot express how disgusting and thoroughly disturbing these allegations are,” said Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson.
Community helping put the puzzle together
During the 3 weeks Ochoa-Lopez was missing, friends and family frantically searched for her. According to the family’s pastor, Jacobia Cortes, when Ochoa-Lopez’s husband tried to report her missing, he was told to return in 72 hours. He did return and in addition, the family had hired a private investigator.
The family also turned to the local church who came together and helped plaster the neighborhood with fliers of Ochoa.
As a result, people in the neighborhood began calling the church to report they had seen Ochoa-Lopez enter the home where she would be later found dead. According to Cortes, concerned residents also said one of the women who lived at the residence, describing her in her 40’s, had suddenly had a baby without ever appearing to be pregnant.
The same day Ochoa-Lopez went missing the Chicago Fire Department received a call that a newborn was in distress at the home where Ochoa was eventually found.
According to fire department spokesperson Larry Langford, for the three weeks that Ochoa-Lopez was missing, her baby boy was hospitalized and accompanied by a woman who claimed she had given birth to him. However, according to Ochoa’s father, Arnulfo Ochoa, there were missed opportunities to find his daughter earlier.
Grizzly details surface
On May 14, police obtained a search warrant and crime lab technicians searched the house on Chicago’s Southwest Side, only 4 miles from Ochoa-Lopez’s own home.
(Chicago police search the home of Clarisa Figueroa on May 14, 2019.)
Bleach and other cleaning supplies were found in the home, along with evidence of burned clothes.
“They are finding remains of burned clothes, they are finding some blood indication on the living room carpet, some blood indication on the hallway, some blood indication on the bathroom floor,” police said.
Ochoa-Lopez’s body was found in a garbage can, hidden in the yard, along with the cable used to strangle her.
Desiree Figueroa told police she helped her mother strangle Ochoa-Lopez from behind the couch until she took her last breath and peed herself.
Apparently, Clarisa Figueroa plotted for months to acquire a newborn before they kidnapped Ochoa-Lopez and cut her baby from her womb using a butcher knife, according to prosecutors.
(Cook County prosecutor Jim Murphy briefs Chicago media with details of murder of Marlen Ochoa-Lopez.)
Ochoa-Lopez was lured to Clarisa Figueroa’s home. When she arrived, Desiree Figueroa showed her a photo album of her late brother to distract her as her mother went behind Ochoa-Lopez with a cord and began strangling her, prosecutor Jim Murphy told reporters.
When Ochoa-Lopez managed to get her finger under the cord, Clarisa Figueroa yelled at her daughter, “You’re not doing your f—ing job!” The daughter then pried Ochoa-Lopez’s fingers from the cord “one by one” while her mother continued to strangle the teenager for another five minutes.
Reading from court documents, Murphy said when Ochoa-Lopez showed no signs of life, Clarisa Figueroa cut her open with a butcher’s knife, removed the baby and the placenta, then put the baby in a bucket with the umbilical cord still attached.
Authorities think the nightmarish plot was hatched during 2018, when Clarisa Figueroa told her family she was pregnant, later posting an ultrasound and photos of a room decorated for a baby on Facebook. Her daughter said she was surprised because she believed her mother had had her tubes tied.
According to Murphy, this announcement came not too long after Clarisa Figueroa’s own adult son had died from natural causes during 2018.
On March 5, 2018, Clarissa Figueroa made a Facebook post that read, “Who is due in May?” Another post said, “Where is the May mammas at?” Ochoa-Lopez, seven months pregnant at the time, replied and that is when Clarisa Figueroa offered her free baby clothes.
When Clarisa Figueroa first asked her daughter to help her kill someone to take their baby, the daughter initially said no.
They first met with Ochoa-Lopez around April 1. Desiree told her boyfriend of her mother’s intention to kill Ochoa-Lopez, and he warned he would call the police if they harmed the young mother. According to the prosecutor, Clarisa Figueroa then told the boyfriend the whole thing had been an April Fool’s joke.
They killed Ochoa-Lopez when she returned the second time on April 23. After killing her, the mother and daughter allegedly wrapped her in a blanket, placing the body in a large plastic bag. They proceeded to drag the body outside and placed it in a garbage can in a hidden area next to the garage.
Clarisa Figueroa then called 911 and claimed she had just delivered a baby and that it wasn’t breathing, authorities told reporters. When the first responders arrived, the baby was blue. The baby was immediately transported to a nearby hospital.
“At the hospital, doctors found no signs Clarisa Figueroa had just given birth,” prosecutors said. “She also had blood on her arms, hands, and face that police later determined to be the blood of Ochoa-Lopez.
Christ Medical Center in suburban Oaklawn has declined to comment, cutting state and federal regulations.
The baby, named Yadiel, remains hospitalized in intensive care and on a breathing machine.
(Funeral procession comes together to bury Marlen Ochoa-Lopez on May 25, 2019.)
On May 25, hundreds filed into a Stickney funeral home to pay their respects to the young mother.
“Today is a sad day – not only for [Marlen’s] family but for all of Chicago,” one community organizer said.
There are Many More Missing
According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), as of April 30, 2018, there were 86,927 active missing person cases in the National Crime Information Center (NCIC).
Though no agency in the country can provide statistic specific to missing pregnant women, NCIC lists approximately 5, 714 missing persons with disabilities.
Many cases may be of people missing are due to diminished mental capacity such as Alzheimer’s, and other mental health issues but a few are pregnant women. However, while it is rare a pregnant mother goes missing, it seems to be happening with more frequency.
When a person goes missing, it becomes a cooperative effort on behalf of the police, the community, and the media,” says private investigator Thomas Lauth of Lauth Investigations International. “When a pregnant mother goes missing it should be treated with utmost urgency.”
Some missing pregnant women make national news, and some do not. Often it can depend upon the circumstances of the disappearance, but some experts say the police and media response can also be affected by race and socio-economic status.
Lauth who has been a private investigator specializing in missing person cases for 25 years, says the public’s reaction to a case becomes paramount when searching for a missing person and Ochoa-Lopez’s case reflects how successful community involvement can be in a missing person case. “Many, many cases are solved with the information provided by the public,” says Lauth. “Getting information out via media is often the only way to generate that one lead that may help law enforcement bring the victim home.”
Disappearance of Bethany Decker
Bethany Decker was 21 and five months pregnant when she vanished from her Ashburn, Va., apartment on January 29, 2011. She had been visiting her parents at their Columbia, Maryland home earlier that day.
(Bethany Decker vanished from her Ashburn, Va., apartment on January 29, 2011.)
Decker who was majoring in global and economic change didn’t show up for her classes at the nearby George Mason University (GMU), or her full-time job but it would be three weeks before she was reported missing.
During the time Decker attended college at GMU, she became pregnant by Emile Decker, an Army National Guardsman. The two married in 2009 and they had a son six months later. Emile Decker was often deployed to Afghanistan for months at a time.
While working at a Centreville Italian restaurant, Decker met Roland, a Bolivian immigrant who was approximately 30 years old and began an extramarital affair with him. By 2010, there were problems in the Decker’s marriage and Decker moved to a separate apartment in Ashburn. Roland soon followed and moved in with her, but Decker found him controlling and abusive. Several times a day Roland demanded Decker send him a picture of herself from her cellphone to show who she was with. Concerned, her parents began devising a plan to get their daughter out of the relationship but by the end of the year Bethany found out she was pregnant.
In January 2011, Emile Decker returned to the United States for a month-long leave to see Decker. By the end of the month, they went on a week-long vacation in Hawaii and returned on January 28, spending the night at Decker’s parent’s home in Maryland.
The following morning Emile Decker stayed at the home and Decker returned to her apartment a little over an hour drive away. On February 2, Emile returned to Afghanistan. Friends that met him at the airport to see him off noted that Bethany wasn’t there like previous occasions but attributed her absence to the couple’s marital problems.
Initially, friends and family were not concerned when they didn’t hear from Decker as of the beginning of February. They said she made an effort to stay in touch but with her busy life and classes at GMU, along with a full-time job, sometimes days would go by before they heard from her.
February 19, Nelson asked her parents, who lived near Ashburn if they could drive by their granddaughter’s house to see if she was there. Decker’s Hyundai was parked out front at an unusual angle with a flat tire. Immediately concerned, Decker’s grandparents called Loudoun County Sheriff’s Department and made a missing person report.
Detectives found Decker had not used her bank account or cell phone since January 29 and initially focused the investigation on Roland and Emile Decker since both may have a motive to harm her.
Emile Decker returned to the states and took a polygraph.
Police then focused on Roland who said he had not seen Decker since the 29th but offered no additional information.
Roldan who had a criminal record prior to Decker’s disappearance is considered a person of interest in the case. In 2015, Roldan was arrested for the attempted murder of another girlfriend Vicky Willoughby.
(Ronald Rowland is suspected to be the last person who saw Bethany Decker alive on January 29, 2011.)
Police in Moore County, North Carolina, responded to a 911 call for a domestic incident at Willoughby’s home on November 12, 2014. Police said Willoughby shot Roland in self-defense twice, once in the chest and once in the abdomen. Roland then grabbed Willoughby’s .38 caliber handgun and shot at her three times, hitting her in the head and leg. She lost an eye in the shooting.
After the Willoughby recovered, she appeared on the Dr. Phil Show and claimed Roldan had made statements to her that implicate him in the disappearance of Decker. He is currently serving time in a North Carolina prison.
Recent Development
In March 2019, Loudoun County Sheriff Mike Chapman announced to media that police have had movement as recently as “last week,” in the eight-year search to determine who killed 21-year old Bethany Decker.
Though Chapman did not elaborate on what the development was, he said it came after a January search warrant of Decker’s Facebook account.
(Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office Mike Chapman announces recent development in the disappearance of Bethany Decker.)
Loudoun County investigators have never charged Roland or named him as a suspect but have said he is no longer willing to answer questions about the disappearance of Decker.
Two weeks after Decker disappeared, Emile Decker said he received a “sketchy” email, “and did not believe it was sent by Bethany” according to a Facebook search warrant filed January 9 of this year.
“Suspicious activity” was also later reported on Decker’s Facebook account by her mother and some of Decker’s friends according to the warrant.
Better technology has assisted investigators with pinpointing the origin of the suspicious activity to reexamine Decker’s Facebook account.
During Roland’s conviction for the attempted murder of Willoughby, North Carolina prosecutors stated after Roland completes his time, sometime in 2021, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will then take him into custody for deportation proceedings to Bolivia.
However, Loudoun County sources told WTOP News that they expect a grand jury to indict Roldan for Decker’s murder despite her remains not being found.
“It’s going to primarily, I would imagine, be a circumstantial case,” said Chapman. “You have to compile all the evidence, and see where it all leads, and make sure you have enough to achieve a conviction.”
Anyone with information regarding the disappearance of Bethany Decker is asked to call the Loudoun County Sheriff at 703-777-1021.
Disappearance of Jasmine Robinson
Jasmine Robinson, 23, was last seen February 18, 2019, at her home in Alachua County, Fla. She was seven months pregnant at the time of her disappearance.
(Jasmine Robinson is seven months pregnant and reported missing February 18, in Alachua County, Fla.)
After coming home from work, Robinson told her aunt she was going to bed at approximately 8 p.m. but friends and family became concerned when she hadn’t answered her phone and failed to report to work the following day. The family made a missing person report to the Alachua County Sheriff’s Department.
From investigating Robinson’s home, police believe Robinson left her residence with “someone” as it did not appear Robinson had not been ready to go anywhere, leaving many of her belongings at the house.
“Over two squads of detectives have been engaged in her case. What we need now is that last piece of information from the public about where she is,” said Lt. Brett Rhodenizer of the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office.
The Florida Sheriff’s Association Criminal Apprehension Assistance Program and Crime Stoppers are offering a reward of up to $8,000 for information that leads to the arrest of anyone responsible for the disappearance of Robinson.
“Whoever saw her last, we need that information because that would give us the key starting point, where we can then have the assistance from the public, use the specialized resources that are available to the sheriff’s office to get out and begin that very deliberate ground search to bring Jasmine home,” said Rhodenizer.
Anyone with information about regarding the disappearance of Jasmine Robinson is asked to call the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office at 352-955-1818.
Disappearance of Kierra Coles
Kierra Coles, 26, stepped out of her home in Chicago’s South Side in her postal worker uniform and disappeared into thin air on October 2, 2018.
(US Postal worker Kierra Coles has been missing from her South Side Chicago apartment since October 1, 2018.)
She was three months pregnant when she disappeared.
During her last phone call with her mother, Karen Phillips, Coles asked for advice about a product and “she seemed okay.” Coles was reported missing on October 4, after her Phillips hadn’t heard from her in two days and calls were being forward to voicemail.
Chicago Police was called to perform a welfare check at Cole’s apartment but found nothing out of the ordinary.
After checking with neighbors, police said the following day; Coles was seen on a neighbor’s surveillance video leaving her apartment near 81st Street and Vernon Avenue. Her vehicle was found in front of her apartment complex with her cell phone, prenatal vitamins, and a packed lunch still inside.
To add to the mystery, coworkers of Coles say she called out sick that day.
Leaving everyone baffled, Cole’s father, Joseph Coles told Dateline his daughter was excited to be a first-time mother. “She had no reason to disappear,” he said.
(Family members of Kierra Coles hand out fliers in Chicago’s South Side.)
In the months following Cole’s disappearance, authorities have searched areas around the city of Chicago. Since Cole’s disappearance, her father quit his job in Wisconsin and moved to Chicago to search “night and day” for his daughter.
“I’m trying to stand out here and stay strong for my daughter and my grandbaby,” said Joseph Coles. “I do my daily routine – pass out fliers, trying to get the word out,” he added. “There’s a lot of love in this family. There is no way in hell she would run away.”
Police announced they feel “foul play” is suspected in Cole’s disappearance.
Chief Guglielmi told Dateline there is a minimum of two to three people of interest in the case and who was the last to see her. “We’ve narrowed down our group here to a personal associate of hers – a friend – who was one of the last people to see her.” Guglielmi did not comment on the person’s name.
Cole’s father holds out hope his daughter and grandbaby are still alive.
“I just want the world to know I love my baby and my grandbaby. It would be closure to know my baby is safe and home,” said Joseph Coles. That would be a blessing of a lifetime. The way the situation is now, I am keeping hope. Because there are young women who have been missing for longer than Kierra has, and they’ve been found safely. So, I am keeping hope.”
As Cole’s due date passed on April 23, she remains missing.
Anyone with information regarding the disappearance of Kierra Coles is asked to call the Chicago Police Department at 312-746-6000.
When you are in the midst of a traumatic experience, it’s
hard to look beyond the immediate crisis.
When a loved one goes missing, it’s hard to think about issuing a press release and why it may be so important to learn in the initial days folmlowing the missing person report.
How important is a press release when some we love goes missing?
Digital communication is the most used form of communication in the United States. When a person goes missing, it becomes paramount to notify as many people as possible in order to generate leads for law enforcement, and finding missing persons is a cooperative effort between law enforcement, media and families of missing persons.
Press releases and other forms of digital communication offer
the important opportunity to provide important details about the case to
thousands of people, along with disseminating descriptive information and
photographs of the missing person. In addition, an effective missing person
press release becomes the most important form of communication between a victim
family and the news media.
Some may have the resources to hire a professional to write
a press release. While this is a great option, there are other considerations
one must be aware of and familiar with to write an effective and professional
press release while also preserving the integrity of the case for law
enforcement, so as not to compromise an investigation.
When writing a press release, samples can be difficult to
find and replicate. Honestly, they can be tough to write because few people
understand their structure. Exceptional press releases all contain certain
elements. These elements should be present in all press releases written.
When you know what to include in your press release, along
with how to structure it, your release will be more legible, credible, and
useful for readers.
Following are foundational tips to help guide you through
the process of writing a press release for a missing person case.
If you are ready for your press release to go
public, use the words “IMMEDIATE RELEASE” at the top of the press release. If
the release needs to be held for a day or two put “HOLD RELEASE UNTIL” and add
a date.
All words in your headline should be in Title
Case, meaning the words in your headline should be capitalized except for
prepositions and words under four letters.
Include the City, State, Month, Day and Year. Press
releases are meant for wide audiences, but it is also important to connect them
with your geographical location and including your local information is
critical.
Throughout your press release try to use
keywords such as missing person, missing adult, missing child, abduction, disappearance,
kidnapping, and others depending upon the circumstances of the disappearance.
It is not necessary to go overboard with the use of keywords: just include them
naturally throughout the release.
Write a summary paragraph to help readers
immediately understand to help journalists understand what the press release is
about so they can make a decision whether to cover the story or not. The who,
what, where, when and why should all be included in a press release. A summary paragraph
must be interesting and compelling to readers so use it to include the most
relevant information, while laying out the key points of the press release.
Six Elements need to be included.
Who. Who is the press release about? Who are the
main players?
What. What is the topic of the press release?
Why should readers care about the release?
Why. Why are you sending out the release?
When. When is the subject of the release taking
place?
Where. Where is the activity taking place?
How. How does the subject of your release
provide value? How does it help your readers?
Finish It Up with a Compelling Last Paragraph
Sample Release
Contact: Mandy Harris
Telephone 602-000-0000
Email: manyharris101@gmail.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Family and Police
Seeking Information About Jane Doe Who Vanished from a Waltan Parking Lot
Phoenix, Ariz. April 15, 2019/ Today, Phoenix Police
Department announced they are searching for information from the public about
the disappearance of Jane Doe, 21, who mysteriously vanished after a north
Phoenix parking lot on Sunday evening. At an upcoming press conference, police,
along with family members of Jane Doe will be sharing information with the
public to help locating the missing Arizona State University student.
Sunday, April 15, 2019, at approximately 6 p.m. Jane Doe was
seen on a security camera entering the Waltan store located at 19th
Avenue and Bell Road. She proceeded to purchase a couple items and left within
ten minutes. Upon leaving, Jane Doe
walked to the northwest side of the parking lot where her white 2014 Honda
Civic was parked. There, an unidentified male, possibly white or Hispanic, can
be seen on the security footage speaking to Jane Doe who continued to get into
her vehicle and leave through the west entrance. Moments later, a 2001-2003
maroon Dodge Durango with the same man driving was seen slowly following the
white Honda Civic out of the parking lot heading north on 19th
Avenue. The maroon Dodge Durango is also being sought by police in several
other attempted abductions.
A press conference is scheduled on Tuesday April 16, 2019,
in the Waltan Parking lot where Jane Doe was last seen. Accompanied by the
Phoenix Police Department, Jane Doe’s two adult sisters, Mandy Harris and Leah
Martin, will speak to reporters about the search for their baby sister.
In addition to discussing the case of Jane Doe, Phoenix
Police is expected to issue a warning to citizens regarding the maroon Dodge Durango
suspected in the attempted abductions of several other women in the North
Valley.
For information please call Mandy Harris at 602-000-000.
