(Jasmine Moody vanished in Detroit, Michigan on December 4, 2014.)
Jasmine Moody, a 22-year old Texas Women’s University student mysteriously vanished on December 4, 2014, while visiting a friend in Detroit, Michigan. Nearly four years later, police are no closer to figuring out what happened to her. News coverage of her disappearance has long since vanished from the scene too, folding into the phenomenon of what is known as Missing White Woman Syndrome.
Approximately 7:30 p.m., the evening of December 4th, Jasmine was last seen leaving her friend’s home in the vicinity of the 3700 block of Baldwin, in the Van Dyke and Mack area of Detroit. Her family, who lives in Texas, is convinced foul play is involved in Jasmine’s disappearance and disappointed in the police department’s response and ensuing investigation.
“My daughter was real popular. She had a lot of friends. She was very social and energetic,” Jasmine’s mother Lisa Kidd told Dateline. “She always had a smile on her face. Always, always.”
Jasmine had known she wanted to be a nurse since she was 16 and described as a well-rounded student at Texas Woman’s University. According to her stepfather Patrick Kidd, Jasmine was a straight-A student, danced, and was training to be part of the U.S. Armed Forces through her school’s ROTC program.
According to police, Jasmine had developed an online relationship with Brittany Gurley, a woman who lived in Detroit. Just a few months after meeting online, Jasmine and Brittany had developed a strong friendship and Jasmine flew to visit Brittany and her family for Thanksgiving.
On the evening of December 4th, the two women allegedly got into an argument about Jasmine’s social media posts. Brittany and her family would later tell police that Jasmine put on a hoodie and walked out of the house.
Little else is known about her disappearance. No major ground search was conducted, and ongoing media exposure on a national level has been minimal.
In contrast to Jasmine Moody’s case, Lauren Spierer, a 20-year old student at Indiana University, vanished June 3, 2011, after an evening out with friends in Bloomington, Indiana. Lauren, who grew up in Scarsdale, an affluent town in Westchester, New York. Her disappearance quickly garnered national press attention but remains unsolved.
“Lauren’s disappearance has been and continues to be the most heart-wrenching experience of our lives,” Lauren’s family posted on Facebook on June 4, 2018, seven years after her disappearance. “I remember writing a few short months after Lauren’s disappearance that I never thought I would see an October without answers. I could never have imagined we would still be searching for Lauren seven years later. I end this now as I start each morning, hoping today will be the day.”
After an evening out at Kilroy’s Sports Bar with friends, Lauren was last seen on 11th Street and College Avenue in Bloomington at approximately 4:15 a.m. She had left her cell phone and shoes at the bar, presumedly taking her shoes off in the beach-themed bar’s sand-filled courtyard.
National news quickly began covering Lauren’s disappearance while hundreds of volunteers assembled to distribute thousands of fliers and help conduct ground searches of the area. A billboard overlooking the Indiana State Fairgrounds, along Fall Creek Parkway, asks the public for any information that would lead to the whereabouts of Lauren.
(Thousands of flyers of missing person Lauren Spierer have been distributed throughout the country.)
Hundreds of volunteers continued to turn out daily to help the family in their search.
Lauren’s case was profiled on popular America’s Most Wanted in 2011, leading to dozens of leads but not that one the family needed. Over the years, dozens of news media outlets have covered Lauren’s story.
Early on, Lauren’s parents hired private investigators and today, maintain an active Facebook group.
In one very revealing and heartfelt post, Lauren’s mother writes, “I could not have imagined on June 3, 2011, that my life would ever have any semblance of normalcy. Unfortunately, that word will never be applied to our lives. You learn to live with routines which get you through your days, weeks, months, and years. We will never know normal. Some of the things taken for granted in ordinary families are so far removed from ours it’s difficult to fathom. They range from everyday life events, a wedding, a birth and yes sadly death. What I wouldn’t do to hear Lauren’s voice or even just to notice a text on my phone. Something so simple as a text. My heart breaks at the thought of it. Well, those responsible will never be able to imagine. I have said it before and I know it’s redundant but what could have been an accident in a few short hours became a crime. The worst nightmare any parent or sister could imagine.”
Every day Lauren’s family simply hopes for answers. That’s all any family of a missing person could ask for.
Two young women, one black, one white, both ambitious students couldn’t be treated more differently by the media. One becomes nearly a household name, the other nearly forgotten. With absolute certainty, no one can say exactly why.
What are the numbers?
As of May 31, 2018, there were 87,608 active missing person cases in the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database at the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Of the active missing person cases listed in NCIC, 40,108 cases are of missing women and 26,842 are black.
(National Crime Information Center Report)
Names like Chandra Levy, Laci Peterson, Elizabeth Smart, Polly Klaas, Natalie Holloway and Lauren Spierer have become familiar household names. Their missing person cases have dominated the headlines over the years. Cases like Jasmine Moody’s are not rare and unfortunately rarely make the local news.
Historically, whenever a female missing person becomes a national headline, she is almost certain to be a pretty, young white woman.
When was the last time you heard of a missing black female on CNN or other national news outlets?
In an NBC news story “Damsels in Distress” Roy Peter Clark, head of Poynter Institute for Media Studies is quoted, “It’s all about sex,” said Clark. “Young white women give editors and television producers what they want.”
“There are several common threads,” said Clark. “The victims that get the most coverage are female rather than male. They are white, in general, rather than young people of color. They are at least middle class, if not upper middle class.”
Some say the cases fit a narrative pattern that storytellers have used for more than a century, a pattern who design still incorporates remnants of an outmoded view of women and black people and their roles in society.
When it comes to popular stories, Clark said, “there is this perverted, racist view of the world. White is good; black is bad. Blonde is good; dark is bad. Young is good; old is bad. And I think we can find versions of this story going back to the tabloid wars of more than a hundred years ago.”
Regardless of class, color or age, it is clear that there is disproportionate coverage of black missing person cases. Referred to as “Missing White Woman Syndrome” and has led to a number of tough on crime measures named after white women who disappeared such as Suzanne’s Law, Kristen’s Law, Jennifer’s Law, Amber Alert and others.
In a study conducted by Baylor University, “The Invisible Damsel: Differences in How National Media Outlets Framed the Coverage of Missing Black and White Women in the Mid-2000s,” Professors Moody, Dorris and Blackwell concluded that in addition to race and class, factors such as supposed attractiveness, body size, and youthfulness function as unfair criteria in determining newsworthiness in the national news coverage of missing women. In addition, news coverage of missing black women was more likely to focus on the victim’s problems, such as abusive relationships, a troubled past, while coverage of white women tends to focus on roles as mothers or daughters.
Zach Somers, a sociologist at Northwestern University, noted that while there has been extensive research that shows that white people are more likely than people of color to appear in news coverage as victims of violent crime, there is relatively none when it comes to missing person cases.
Victim blaming appears to be compounding the unequal coverage and reinforces the view that black female victims are not only less innocent, but less worthy of rescue relative to white women. Thus, the term “Damsels in Distress.”
Others have blamed “police brutality” for the lack of publicity given to black female missing persons, attributing the silence to a habit of “sexism and patriarchy” in American society.
One group is fighting the imbalance of national media exposure that exists. The Black and Missing Foundation’s mission is to draw more attention to missing African Americans by providing an outlet for spreading the word through technology and print – and their work is making a difference.
By creating relationships with the media, government agencies, and the public, they are increasing the chances of missing black women being covered in the news and ultimately, to bring them home.
Derica and Natalie Wilson, two sisters-in-law, and founders of the Black and Missing Foundation have been profiled in People Magazine, Essence, Ebony, Huffington Post, Washington Post and developed a partnership with TV One. This year they celebrate ten years, helping thousands of families of missing persons and finding nearly 300 people.
“Many times, we are a family’s last resort – their last hope., says co-founder Natalie Wilson. This platform allows us to open our doors for families searching for their missing loved ones and not restrict access to help.”
Black and Missing Foundation have set the example for other groups to follow, especially the media.
Thomas Lauth of Lauth Missing Persons: an Expert in Missing Children and Adults noted, “In the 17 years of conducting missing persons cases for families and non-profit organizations, there is certainly a media and public bias against a missing person of color. When the general public and the media see a blonde 18 year-old on CNN that is missing–as opposed to an African American female on CNN–there is immediate attention to the blonde. Luckily there are non profit organizations such as Black and Missing to help bring more exposure to advocacy to the families for persons of color.”
Finding missing persons is a cooperative effort between the police, media, social service agencies and especially the public. With every news story, the coverage generates leads and increases the chance of that one lead being reported that will assist law enforcement in the investigation, and even close a case.
When it comes to missing persons there is no black and white, there are only families who are missing their daughters, siblings missing their sisters, children who are missing their mothers. There is no rich or poor, only families, human beings experiencing the most traumatic experience of their lifetimes.
People . . . who need our help.
For more of Kym Pasqualini’s work in missing persons, please visit her website, Missing Leads , or log on to Facebook and join the conversation on the Missing Leads Discusssion page!
Every week there are new stories in the news about children and teenagers who have either run away or been kidnapped. When parents see these tragedies play out through media coverage, there’s usually one common thread running through their minds, “This could not happen to my child.” Despite statistics on the demographics most often affected by missing or runaway teens, no family is immune. Parents of a missing child or teen will most certainly have never found themselves in these frightful circumstances before and be at a loss for how to proceed. In addition to filing a report with police, the parents might also consider hiring a private investigator to conduct an independent, concurrent investigation, which begs the question: Should you hire a private investigator to locate your missing or runaway child?
An Overwhelming Task
At first glance, hiring a private investigator may seem superfluous. You may think, “The police are here to help me, and they’re here to help me for free. Why should I consider hiring a private investigator?” The Office of Justice Programs estimates the first 48 hours after your child goes missing are the most crucial in the timeline of any investigation. During these moments, your instinct might be to go find the child yourself or help conduct searches; however, as a parent or guardian of a missing child, your information is the most crucial. A 1982 congressional mandate requires law enforcement to immediately take a report following the disappearance of a child under the age of 18. However, recent reports estimate the excess of some 800,000 missing persons cases reported every year, 85-90% of those cases are individuals under the age of 18. What this statistic tells us is law enforcement, in most parts of the country, are overwhelmed by a caseload (with some departments averaging over 40 cases per investigator) leaving your missing child as a file amidst a stack of equally devastating missing child cases. As law enforcement agencies across the country remain stretched, missing child cases—especially ones where the child appears to have run away—are not always the first priority, as investigators attempt to perform a triage regarding which case requires their attention the most. Private investigators only average between three and four cases at any given time, meaning your child’s case will be at the top of their list of priorities. During the crucial FIRST 48 hours, having a private investigator treat your case as a priority can be the difference between acquiring invaluable information and losing a lead.
Constitutional Red Tape
One of the glowing advantages of hiring a private investigator to find your missing child or teen is the fact PIs possess far more autonomy than the average law enforcement officer or investigator. For instance, when a suspect has been identified, law enforcement often must secure a warrant for them to be tracked as the investigation unfolds. Paperwork and bureaucracy within the chain of command can cause the wheels of justice to turn slowly in regards to local or state law enforcement. Not only are PI’s not required to file this sort of paperwork, but they can also do so without the supervision of a governing law enforcement administration, so the case progression is not stalled for lack of warrant or administration approval.
The Binds of Jurisdiction
Hiring a private investigator conducting an independent, concurrent investigation, means there will never be any issues of jurisdiction when pursuing leads. Say your family lives in Indiana, but while on an out-of-state family vacation, your child goes missing in a crowd. As missing and abducted children across state or even international borders, local law enforcement exponentially lose power to follow leads maybe illuminating the child’s whereabouts. It is also not uncommon for two or more law enforcement agencies to enter a tug of war when it comes to who has jurisdiction over a particular case based on the specific circumstances. This can lead to the loss of leads or time as agencies hash out the details. Private investigators are never bound by jurisdictional bureaucracy. They can travel between states following the trail of a missing child, all without having to file any paperwork or obtain special permissions from superiors.
While law enforcement may have a wealth of experience and exclusive tools at their disposal, it’s important to remember that these civil servants are often overwhelmed with an immense case-load and can only do so much when it comes to the constitutional and jurisdictional boundaries they cannot cross. When hiring a private investigator, remember they have the expertise and similar tools of law enforcement, while also having the time to treat your case as a top priority.
Carie McMichael is the Communication and Media Specialist for Lauth Investigations International, a private investigation firm based in Indianapolis, Indiana–delivering proactive and diligent solutions for over 30 years. For more information, please visit our website.
Polaroid found in parking lot of a convenience store in Port St. Joe Florida in July 1989.
Tara Calico’s disappearance has baffled investigators for decades. In July 1989, a color Polaroid of an unidentified young woman and a little boy was found by a woman in a convenience store parking lot in Port St. Joe, a beach town approximately one hour south of Panama City, Florida.
The woman who found the photograph in a vacant parking space said she saw a man driving a windowless Toyota cargo van parked there when she arrived at the store. The man was described as being in his 30’s with a mustache. The photograph had recently been taken. Officials at Polaroid said the picture was taken after May 1989 because it was not available until then.
In the picture, the young woman glares at the camera, her mouth covered with black duct tape, hands bound behind her back, alongside a young boy who looks scared, his mouth taped and hands bound behind his back as well.
Pictured alongside the bound woman is a copy of V.C. Andrews book, My Sweet Audrina, a 1982 best-seller about a young girl who is haunted by her sister’s death. The thriller touches upon rape, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and autism.
The photograph made the national news and a “Current Affair” where family and friends of a young missing New Mexico woman saw a haunting resemblance. Tara Calico vanished in Belen, New Mexico, 10 months earlier on September 20, 1988. They contacted Tara’s mother, Patty Doel, who insisted she meet with investigators and see the photograph firsthand.
After viewing the photograph, Patty insisted the picture was her missing daughter, even noting a discoloration on the leg of the woman pictured being identical to a large scar on Tara’s leg she had sustained in a car accident. Not to be overlooked, V.C. Andrews was also Tara’s favorite author.
The photograph has been carefully analyzed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation who felt the photograph was not of Tara while Scotland Yard declared it was her.
The Disappearance
On Tuesday, September 20, 1988, Tara left her home at approximately 9:30 a.m. to go on a daily bicycle ride along New Mexico State Rd. 47 in Belen, a route she took almost every morning. A small town, Belen only had a population of 7,152 in 2015.
Tara Calico missing from Belen, New Mexico since September 20, 1988
Sometimes accompanied by her mother, Patty had warned her daughter to carry mace with her when she rode but Tara rejected the suggestion. On the morning of Tara’s disappearance, she playfully told her mother to come and get her if she did not return by noon because she had plans to meet her boyfriend at 12:30 p.m. to play tennis.
When Tara did not return, anxiously Patty drove south along Tara’s usual bike route but could not find her. In the process of searching, she spotted a Boston cassette tape lying on the side of the rugged road. She immediately called the police.
Several witnesses told police they had witnessed an older light-colored pickup truck, about 1953, with a camper shell following close behind her as she rode along the highway. Quite possibly, Tara would not have even noticed if a vehicle was following behind her while she listened to Boston on her Walkman.
Unidentified Boy
The boy in the disturbing photograph remains unidentified to this day. Initially, when the photograph was found, the mother of Michael Henley said she was “almost certain” the boy in the Polaroid was her missing son. Sadly, Michael Henley was found deceased in June 1990 in the Zuni Mountains near where his father and he were hunting when the child vanished in April of 1988. It was determined he died of exposure.
Another missing child case has caught the attention of law enforcement as the picture strongly resembles David Michael Borer missing since April 26, 1989, from Willow, Alaska, about five hours south of Fairbanks.
Resemblance between missing child David Borer and the unidentified boy in Polaroid
David was last seen walking along Parks Highway about 11 miles on his way to a friend’s home or to the Kashmitna River sandbar.
David once hitchhiked to Wasilla, approximately 30 miles from his home and described as a very independent young child,
Canine searches tracked his scent to Parks Highway, but the scent was lost at the road and there have been no signs of him since.
A missing lead
In 2008, the Sheriff of Valencia County claimed he had received information about what happened to Tara. A witness came forward telling law enforcement two teenagers had been following Tara in a Ford pickup truck, trying to talk to her and grabbing at her. Apparently, they accidentally hit Tara and panicked, then killed her. No further information surfaced from this allegation and no arrests were made.
Tara’s stepfather, John Doel, disputed the sheriff’s claims telling media the sheriff should not have released this information without enough circumstantial information to make an arrest.
More haunting photographs surface
In 2009, twenty years after the Polaroid was found, pictures of a young boy were mailed to the Port St. Joe police chief, David Barnes. The sheriff received two letters with photographs included, one postmarked June 10, 2009, and the other postmarked August 10, 2009, from Albuquerque New Mexico. One letter contained a photo copy of a young boy with very light brown hair with a band of black ink drawn over the boy’s mouth as if it were covered in the 1989 Polaroid.
The second letter contained the original picture. On August 12th, the Star Newspaper in Port St. Joe received a letter, also from Albuquerque, with the same picture, with the same hand-drawn mouth covering. Law enforcement has never been able to confirm the original Polaroid and the pictures received in 2009 are of the same boy. None of the three letters contained information indicating the child’s identity. Though there was not a reference to Tara’s case, police felt confident it was potentially connected.
Two other Polaroids have been found over the years some believe may be of Tara. The first was found near a construction site. It was a blurry photograph of a seemingly nude girl with tape over her mouth, light blue striped fabric behind her, similar to the fabric seen in the original Polaroid. It too was taken on film not available until 1989.
Copy of Polaroid found in Montecito, California.
The second photograph is of a terrified woman bound on an Amtrak train (possibly abandoned), her eyes covered with gauze and big black framed glasses, with a male passenger taunting her in the photograph.
Of the many photographs and unidentified remains Patty had to view to help police throughout the country rule out, these three could never be ruled out by her mother.
Sadly, Patti Doel passed away in 2006, never finding out what happened to her daughter. Tara’s father passed away in 2002. However, with advancement in technology, Tara’s remaining family and stepfather still hold out hope they will one day find out what happened to her.
Valencia County Sheriff’s Office is not actively pursuing any of the photographs as possible leads. Instead, they are working with the FBI analyzing local suspects given the information provided to the sheriff’s office years ago that Tara was killed by local residents of her small community. Supported by witness reports claiming Tara was followed prior to her disappearance and she was also receiving threatening notes placed on her vehicle prior to her disappearance.
Michele Doel, Tara’s stepsister, told People Magazine when asked if the Polaroid with the young unidentified boy is Tara she responds, “If I had to say yes or no, definitively, yes, that is her,” says Michele. However, she added “Does that make sense? No. That’s not the story that makes sense.”
Current lead investigator Sgt. Joseph Rowland at Valencia County Sheriff’s Department said the vehicle in the first polaroid was identified as a van and the sheriff’s department received many tips about vans that were not fruitful.
Mother never lost hope
Patty Doel died in 2006 after suffering several strokes after relocating from New Mexico to Florida with her husband John.
Friends and family say her daughter was always on her mind, never giving up hope she would one day find her.
She and her husband John even had a bedroom they kept for Tara, placing passing birthday and Christmas gifts there.
Even after the strokes, Patty would see a young girl on a bicycle and point and write her daughter’s name. Her husband would have to tell her it wasn’t Tara.
Tara’s older brother Chris told People Magazine he believed the stress of his sister’s disappearance and lack of resolution significantly shortened his mother’s life.
“The police would send photos of every possibility, including pictures of bodies, dismembered bodies, and every time mom got an envelope with the newest pictures, she had to look at them,” Chris told People. “She couldn’t not look , but it tore her up every time.”
The first Polaroid told Patty her daughter might still be alive, she survived whatever and whoever abducted her.
A case that is not exactly cold, Tara’s family holds onto hope; and many of the missing person investigators have taken the case into retirement with them. A case that happened long ago but is never forgotten.
When we hear the word “missing” we often think of missing children. When we walk into Walmart the faces of missing children stare back at us and the missing child cases that receive public and media attention are often the most extreme examples, such as the case of Ayla Reynolds.
One-year-old Ayla Reynolds vanished from her home on December 16, 2011, in Waterville, Maine. Her arm in a sling, Ayla was last seen wearing green pajamas with “Daddy’s Princess” on the front. Six years later, Ayla’s disappearance remains a mystery.
(Poster of Ayla Reynolds distributed by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at www.missingkids.com.)
It is quite common there is less concern for adult missing, further obfuscating an already complex issue.
The most reliable overall missing person statistics are maintained at the National Crime Information Center (NCIC), at the Federal Bureau of Investigation to include all ages of missing persons to include age, race, gender, and category of disappearance.
What is NCIC?
Called the lifeline of law enforcement, NCIC is a clearinghouse of crime data that can be accessed by every criminal justice agency in the country. It assists criminal justice professionals to locate missing persons, apprehend fugitives, recover stolen property, and even identify terrorists.
Launched in 1967, with five file categories and 356,784 records, by 2015, NCIC contained 21 file categories and 12 million records, averaging 12.6 million transactions per day.
The NCIC Missing Person File was implemented in 1975. Records entered in the Missing Person File are retained indefinitely, until the person is located, or the record is canceled by the entering investigating law enforcement agency.
According to the NCIC, as of May 31, 2018, there were 87,608 active missing person cases in the United States, some cases dating back decades. Juveniles 18-years old and under accounted for 31,580 active cases in NCIC.
But, what exactly does this mean? And, who are all of these missing persons?
Missing persons entered into NCIC range from birth to age 99-years old and can include children to a senior with Alzheimer’s disease. Unfortunately, there are no statistics available to narrow down the contributors specific to an individual’s disappearance such as a history of domestic violence, mental illness, diminished mental capacity such as Alzheimer’s, those living a high-risk lifestyle, etc. However, missing persons are entered into six categories within NCIC.
Within NCIC, the Missing Person file includes the following six categories of missing person entries and defined by the FBI as follows:
Juvenile: Person under the age of eighteen who is missing and does not meet any of the entry criteria set forth in the other categories.
Endangered: Person of any age who is missing under circumstances indicating physical safety may be in danger.
Involuntary or Nonfamily Abduction: Person of any age who is missing under circumstances indicating the disappearance may not be voluntary (abduction or kidnapping).
Disability: Person of any age who is missing under proven physical or mental disability or is senile with the potential of subjecting him/herself or others to personal and immediate danger.
Catastrophe Victim: A person of any age who is missing after a catastrophe such as a flood, avalanche, fire, or other disasters.
Other: Person over the age of 18 not meeting the criteria for entry in any a category who is missing and there is reasonable concern for safety.
(Source: NCIC Missing Person Analysis as of May 31, 2018)
When an individual is reported missing to a law enforcement agency, the missing person’s descriptive data is entered into the NCIC computer to include full description, age, race, gender, clothing, jewelry, scars, tattoos, past surgeries, vehicle description, and any other related descriptive data is entered into the computer database and placed into a specific category based upon an initial determination by the investigating law enforcement agency if the person may be endangered due to circumstances surrounding the person’s disappearance, possible foul play, or a disability.
Unfortunately, with missing persons, the cause of the disappearance may not always be clear. Unlike a homicide, where evidence may be collected to help the investigation progress, many times, there is no scene of a crime for police to analyze – a person simply vanishes.
Missing Child Act of 1985
In 1984, the United States Congress passed the Missing Children’s Assistance Act, which established a national resource center and clearinghouse for missing children. In 1984, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) was created by President Ronald Reagan.
Primarily funded by the United States Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), NCMEC acts as an information clearinghouse and resource for families of missing children, law enforcement, and communities to assist in locating missing children and to raise awareness about way to prevent child abduction, child sexual abuse, child pornography and child sex trafficking.
On April 6, 2018 it was announced in Forbes Magazine that the United States Department of Justice, in a joint effort with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Internal Revenue Service, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service had seized and shut-down Backpage.com, considered a constant opponent of NCMEC due to it’s facilitation of child sex trafficking. In the battle against child sex trafficking, the world waits to see what happens with the case against Backpage.com.
NCMEC and the OJJDP utilizes enhanced definitions of missing children as follows:
Family Abduction is defined as a member of the child’s family or someone acting on behalf of a family member takes or fails to return a child in violation of a custody order or other legitimate custodial rights and conceals the child, transports the child out of state with the intent to prevent contact, or expresses the intent to deprive the caretaker of custodial rights permanently or indefinitely.
Nonfamily Abduction is defined as a nonfamily perpetrator, without lawful authority or parental permission, uses force or threat to take a child (at least 20 feet or into a vehicle or building), or detains a child in a place where the child cannot leave or appeal for help for at least one hour, conceals the child’s whereabouts, demands ransom, or expresses the intent to keep the child permanently.
Stereotypical kidnapping (nonfamily abduction subtype) is defined as a nonfamily abduction perpetrated by a stranger, person of unknown identity, or slight acquaintance in which the perpetrator kills the child, detains the child overnight, transports the child at least 50 miles, demands ransom or expresses to keep the child permanently.
Runaway is defined as a child who leaves home without permission and stays away overnight.
Thrownaway is a defined as a child whom an adult household member tells to leave or prevents them from returning home and does not arrange for alternative and adequate care.
Missing Involuntary (lost, stranded, or injured), is defined as a child whose whereabouts are unknown to the caretaker, causing the caretaker to contact law enforcement or a missing child agency to locate missing child.
Missing (benign explanation) is defined a child whose whereabouts are unknown to the caretaker, causing the caretaker to become alarmed for at least one hour, try to locate child, contact police about the episode for any reason, as long as the child does not fit any of the above episode types.
(National Incidence Studies of Missing, Abducted, Runaway and Thrownaway Children (NISMART) comparison of NIMART-3 2013 study and NISMART-2 1999 study.)
What Determines Entry in NCIC
Public Safety Telecommunications personnel are responsible for first response to incident of missing persons and entrusted with the critical task of gathering, organizing, and entering identifying information into the NCIC database. They also play a crucial role in making queries as well as executing record updates, modifications, and cancellations.
Missing persons are entered into an NCIC category based upon information gathered from family members, friends and potential witnesses, while detectives respond and investigate the last known whereabouts of the missing individual.
Entry into a specific category is determined by information that is collected at the scene and based upon the initial information collected. As information is collected, an initial determination is made that can be modified later based upon any new information that is obtained.
For example, a family comes home to find their 13-year old daughter is gone. Recently, she has been threatening to run away and the parents first assume that is what happened. They call police who respond to the house. At that point, she may initially be entered in NCIC as Endangered. However, upon further questioning, the family soon discovers she did not pack anything and her cell phone is found on the living room floor. Police investigate further and discover the screen to the back door is cut and it appears the house was entered by someone other than family. Very quickly, an Endangered Missing Person case can become an investigation of a critical Involuntary Missing Person.
At that point, in the case of the most serious cases of missing children, an immediate notification is made to the FBI and NCMEC to enable them to arrange resources. If given permission by the investigating law enforcement agency, NCMEC may also issue an AMBER Alert.
Each case if different, circumstances vary. Whether an individual may have vanished on their own, to one who may have schizophrenia or Alzheimer’s disease, entry into NCIC will depend upon the determination made by law enforcement based upon their initial response and ongoing investigation
Nonfamily Abduction
It was June 9, 1995, on a beautiful evening in the small town of Alma, Arkansas. Alma is located along I-40 within the Arkansas River Valley at the edge of the Ozark Mountains with a population under 5,000 people.
That evening was the first time 6-year old Morgan Nick had gone to a baseball game. Her mother Colleen was attending the Rookie League game at the Alma ballpark and Morgan had whined about having to sit next to her mother in the bleachers. There was a nearby sand pile with other children playing and Morgan wanted to play. It was within eyesight and only seconds away, so Colleen consented.
(Morgan Nick, age 6, vanished from Alma, Arkansas on June 9, 1995.)
Morgan ran to the sandpile, laughing with the other children while Colleen turned her head back to watch the Marlins and Pythons. A player whacked the ball and two runners tied the game, then a run was scored, and the Pythons won the game. The sound of the crowd cheering was deafening.
When Colleen stood up she could see Morgan’s playmates walking down the hill away from the sandpile, but where was Morgan? It was approximately 10:30 p.m.
The children told Colleen that Morgan was pouring sand out of her shoe near her mother’s car parked nearby. Colleen frantically searched. Morgan was gone.
Later, the children would tell police they saw a man approach Morgan. Another abduction attempt had occurred in Alma that day and police had a composite sketched based on witnesses of the other incident.
Thousands of leads later, numerous appearances on national news talk shows, even America’s Most Wanted, and Morgan’s mother is nowhere closer to knowing what happened to her daughter that evening. Police have interviewed hundreds of persons of interest, searched homes and wells, and dug up slabs of concrete with backhoes, but Morgan remains missing 23 years later.
The stakes are high when a person vanishes involuntarily and the search.
Missing with disabilities
Patty Mosley is a 66-year old woman with dementia who had been placed in a Maple Heights medical center in Cleveland, Ohio and went missing on April 21, 2018.
According to Police Detective Lieutenant Grossmyer, it appears Patty just walked away from the facility. Broadway Care Center, a nursing and rehabilitation center, has not made a statement regarding how Patty was able to get out of the facility. “They weren’t sure how she had gotten out of the facility,” Grossmyer said.
(Patty Mosley, age 66 with early onset of dementia, vanished from a care facility in Ohio on April 21, 2018.)
Patty had been diagnosed with major depression, dementia, alcoholism and other brain disorders.
Police issued a public “Missing Endangered Adult” alert, searched all local hospitals, RTA stations, and women’s shelters, even calling in their search team. All local media covered the story.
“We went into individual businesses, establishments, we checked people up and down the streets. We have checked everywhere we can and the information was put out throughout Northeast Ohio,” Grossmyer said.
Sadly, Patty is not the only individual to have disappeared from Broadway Care Center. In June 2017, 52-year old Francis Kish “walked out” of the facility and vanished. A paranoid schizophrenic dependent upon medication was later found safe at an RTA station.
Patty was also found safe and the NCIC entry cancelled by Maple Heights Police Department. A happy ending.
However, these are not isolated incidents. Mark Billiter who suffered from Alzheimer’s walked out of Glenwood Care & Rehabilitation in Canton and was later found deceased near a gas station having died from exposure to the cold.
There are 5,731 individuals entered into NCIC with disabilities that include physical disabilities, those needing medications, missing persons with schizophrenia, bipolar, dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, and other incapacitating disabilities.
When an individual who has disabilities, especially diminished mental capacity, goes missing, it is vital the search is initiated quickly.
Endangered Missing – Few Clues
It has been 21-years since Kristen Modafferi has been seen.
Kristen, 18, was an honor roll design student at North Carolina State University. She planned to spend her summer in San Francisco studying photography at U.C. Berkeley with classes scheduled to begin on June 24. She waved goodbye to her parents on her birthday June 1, 1997 and boarded the plane to San Francisco. It was the first time she had been on her own.
(Kristen Modefferi vanished in San Francisco on June 23, 1997.)
Kristen quickly found employment at Spinelli’s Coffee Shop in the Crocker Galleria and worked there during the week and weekends at the Café Museo, located inside the Museum of Modern Art. The adventurous young lady was in her element.
On June 23, the day before classes were to begin, Kristen asked a coworker at Spinelli’s for directions to Baker Beach, next to the popular Land’s End Beach. She proceeded to clock out at 3 p.m. and was last seen by a coworker at approximately 3:45 p.m. on the second floor of the Crocker Galleria with an unidentified blonde woman. The coworker thought it strange because Kristen normally left the mall immediately after shift’s end. That was the last time Kristen was seen. She never returned for her $400 paycheck.
Upon learning of Kristen’s disappearance, her parents Bob and Deborah immediately flew to San Francisco and met with police.
(Baker Beach, near Land’s End beach is approximately 6 miles from the Crocker Galleria where Kristen was last seen.)
Kristen’s scent would be tracked by bloodhounds from the Crocker Galleria to a nearby bus stop that leads to Sutro Park Beach, next to Land’s End. Bloodhounds picked up her scent again at the beach but lost it at a high cliff. Police feared she may have fallen to her death at the beach.
(Land’s End Beach where bloodhounds search for Kristen Modafferi.)
Police then found a personal ad that read, “Friends: Female seeking friends to share activities, who enjoy music, photography, working out, walks, coffee, or simply the beach, and exploring the Bay area. Interested, call me.” Authorities believed Kristen had responded to or placed the ad in the local paper.
Authorities suspected the person who answered or placed the ad was the unidentified blonde seen at the mall with Kristen and somehow, she may be involved in Kristen’s disappearance.
On July 10, 1997, local news station KGO, an ABC affiliate, received an anonymous phone call from a man who claimed two lesbians had kidnapped Kristen, murdered her and dumped her body under a bridge at Point Reyes in Marin County. When police interviewed the two women Jon had identified they told detectives Jon was angry with them spurring the phone call. Jon then claimed he had learned about the case from television.
Shortly thereafter, three women came forward claiming Jon liked to abuse and torture women and often targeted women using personal ads while using other women to lure his victims.
One of the women who came forward told police Jon had mentioned Kristen by name, threatening her, “the same thing that happened to her could happen to you.”
Police searched Jon’s girlfriend’s residence and found a diary that had pages ripped out that correlated with the dates Kristen went missing. She told them that Jon had ripped the pages out because they may have contained incriminating information.
Though they polygraphed Jon, there was never enough evidence to make an arrest.
Private investigators hired by Kristen’s family believe Kristen was murdered in the basement of her residence though there has never been any information or DNA evidence to substantiate those claims.
21 years later, Kristen remains missing.
Other – At Risk Missing
(Corinna Slusser vanished in NYC on September 20, 2017.)
Life was different two years ago for Sabina Tuorto, mother of 19-year old Corinna Slusser who has been missing since September 20, 2017.
“Only two years ago, so much was different then. My daughter was a great student, a cheerleader. She had many friends and lived her life as a normal teenager,” said Sabina. “I need her home and I can’t bear any more days like this. I fear the worst, but I pray for the best and her return home . . . waiting for an Angel to hear my prayer.”
Corinna was last seen at Haven Motel in Queens, New York on Woodhaven Boulevard, approximately 5 miles from LaGuardia Airport.
According to online Yelp reviews of the budget hotel, the consensus is the place needs to be shut down.
“I live right by the place and feel compelled to review it. It’s a motel mostly for prostitutes – seriously. The cops are constantly out investigating it and there’s always an issue. Parking lot is generally full of minivans (vom). It goes on an hourly rate. The windows are tinted 100% black. Repulsive. This place should seriously be shut down,” wrote one reviewer.
Corinna was last seen leaving the hotel during the early morning hours of September 20th.
Before the bright and cheery high school cheerleader’s disappearance, Corinna lived in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, and dreamed of becoming a makeup artist. On her Instagram account, which she updated almost daily, she is often dressed in bohemian type clothing showing peace signs, photographed hugging her friends and enjoying the outdoors.
However, one can see a transition occurring in the photographs she posted. Corinna goes from a bright and bubbly teen to showing less modest photographs.
An Instagram post uploaded on September 11, 2017, is thought to have been taken in the Bronx. The caption reads “cyphin mid day mid road is always good for the soul.”
There has been no activity on any of her social profiles since her disappearance.
While living in Bloomsburg, Corinna had become depressed and landed in the hospital where she met an older man that persuaded her to move to New York City. He offered a place to stay for the adventurous teen. Little did she know, the 32-year old man was a suspected “pimp” from Harlem. She took with her only her cell phone, identification and what she was wearing and moved to the bustling city where police believe she was coerced into prostitution.
Initially, Corinna kept in touch with family and friends and posted to her social media accounts.
With multiple arrests for “promoting prostitution, the man she left with was known by police in New York City. NYPD detectives now theorize Corinna has been moved from pimp to pimp and no longer in the city. Her name has been mentioned in various vice investigations and they fear she has been kidnapped by a sex trafficking ring.
One month prior to her disappearance, her mother received a copy of an order of protection revealing her daughter had been an assault victim on August 25, 2017.
Corinna had made a 911 call from the Harlem Vista Hotel in Northern Manhattan telling police she had been assaulted by her pimp. She accused him of grabbing her around the neck, smashing her head against the wall and strangling her after she confronted him of stealing $300 from her. The document named the man she had left with as Yovanny Peguero. When confronted by her mother she tried to downplay the incident.
When Corinna failed to show up for her grandfather’s funeral in Florida she was reported missing.
There is a $10,000 reward offered for information that leads to the safe recovery of Corinna Slusser.
Experts in the Field of Missing Persons and Sex Trafficking
These are typical cases that populate NCIC and each vastly different from the other.
Thomas Lauth of Lauth Investigations has worked over 20 years throughout the country and internationally on endangered missing person cases.
“The most important thing a family can do when a loved one is missing is pull in as many resources as possible,” says Lauth. “Finding missing persons is a cooperative effort between police, media, missing person experts and advocates, private investigators and especially the public.”
According to missing person experts, the more time that goes by, the less likely the person will be found alive. However, with cases like Jaycee Dugard, kidnapped by a stranger on June 10, 1991 at age 11, and found alive in 2009, there still remains hope for every family.
When 5-year-old Lucas Hernandez was reported missing on February 17th, 2018, there was a great deal of speculation surrounding the circumstances of his disappearance. On that fateful afternoon, his father’s live-in girlfriend Emily Glass, 26, reported she checked on him before showering, then took a nap. She claimed she awoke to find Lucas missing, and called the authorities. Lucas’s father was working out-of-state and had left his son in Glass’s care. Fruitless months passed in the search for Lucas with investigators unable to uncover any credible leads to his whereabouts.
In a shocking twist, on May 24th, law enforcement received a call from private investigator, David Marshburn, who was hired to find Lucas, telling them Emily Glass had just led them to the child’s remains under a bridge in Harvey County, Kansas. Marshburn recorded audio of a conversation in which Emily Glass can be heard saying, “I’ve done Lucas so wrong.” Glass told Marshburn on the morning of February 17th, she found Lucas dead in his bed. Investigators on the scene at the bridge could not confirm with certainty the identity of the child prior to autopsy, but police chief Gordon Ramsay said in a press conference, “It’s likely Lucas.” He also reports the investigation is now “very active” following the discovery—a change of pace from months of silence after Lucas was first reported missing.
Glass was later arrested and jailed on suspicion of obstruction of justice. The break in the case was a testament to how private investigators are often able to uncover leads where the police are not able to. “We’re less of a threat sometimes to people we’re talking to because we have no powers of arrest,” private investigator Jim Murray of Star Investigations told KMBC News. This might explain why Glass suddenly broke her silence on the truth about what happened to Lucas that day.
When Glass was later released from police custody with no charges filed, the community was outraged. In addition to media presence, an infuriated crowd bore witness to her release, with frustrated cries of “How can you release her?” Glass refused to answer questions from reporters about her involvement in Lucas’s death and her rumored pregnancy, but other individuals close to the investigation have opened up since Glass’s arrest, including Lucas’s father, Johnathan Hernandez. On June 4th, Hernandez spoke to television journalist and legal commentator, Nancy Grace, on her national podcast, Crime Stories with Nancy Grace.
In his interview with Grace, Hernandez asserted he did not doubt Glass’s story about Lucas disappearing until her arrest. Grace asked Hernandez if he had knowledge of Glass abusing his son, to which he replied, “No, I did not. … She was always good with him.” Despite characterizing Glass as a “good mother,” Hernandez is still left with questions about her actions. “She said that she had panicked. I’m not sure if it is because she was smoking meth, which I had no knowledge of. I asked her why she didn’t call 911? Why, if that’s what happened and it was an accident and she was asleep and he died, why not call 911?” Jonathan told Grace.
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace also dropped a forensic bomb in the June 4th episode, stating their source claims the autopsy results have determined Lucas could have died—not on February 17th, or the night prior—but as early as February 10th or 11th. Attempts by various media outlets to contact the Wichita Police Department about the autopsy results have been met with “no comment,” as investigators continue to investigate Lucas’s death. District Attorney Marc Bennett stated in a press conference following Glass’s release from jail, ““I appreciate the exhaustive investigation in this case conducted by law enforcement and this office will actively continue to work with law enforcement until the case is resolved,” Bennett added, declining to comment further on the ongoing investigation.
Although Glass led David Marshburn to Lucas’s remains, law enforcement will never have another chance to question her as a person of interest in his disappearance. On June 8th, Glass was found dead from an “apparent suicide,” with a rifle at her feet, and three suicide notes in the home she shared with Lucas and his father. Despite her death, the investigation is still described by law enforcement as “ongoing.”
On Memorial Day weekend, family and friends of Lucas gathered near Benton, Kansas to release balloons in the little boy’s memory. KWCH12, which covered the event, printed a statement written by Johnathan Hernandez:
“This is a hard thing to write. I held on hope that Lucas was still alive. The past 3 months have been full of so many different theories and ideas about where Lucas was that I still had hope. I now have to live with the knowledge that Lucas is gone.
I am not a perfect man and have made mistakes. My love for my children is the one thing that has always been most important thing to me. Judge me if you must but please don’t ever think I didn’t love my son.”
Carie McMichael is the Communication and Media Specialist for Lauth Investigations International, a private investigation firm based in Indianapolis, Indiana–delivering proactive and diligent solutions for over 30 years. For more information, please visit our website.
In contrast to Jasmine Moody’s case, Lauren Spierer, a 20-year old student at Indiana University, vanished June 3, 2011, after an evening out with friends in Bloomington, Indiana. Lauren, who grew up in Scarsdale, an affluent town in Westchester, New York. Her disappearance quickly garnered national press attention but remains unsolved.
Pictured alongside the bound woman is a copy of V.C. Andrews book, My Sweet Audrina, a 1982 best-seller about a young girl who is haunted by her sister’s death. The thriller touches upon rape, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and autism.
In 2009, twenty years after the Polaroid was found, pictures of a young boy were mailed to the Port St. Joe police chief, David Barnes. The sheriff received two letters with photographs included, one postmarked June 10, 2009, and the other postmarked August 10, 2009, from Albuquerque New Mexico. One letter contained a photo copy of a young boy with very light brown hair with a band of black ink drawn over the boy’s mouth as if it were covered in the 1989 Polaroid.
