When a child or a loved one goes missing, immediately life changes as you know it, your entire world seems to fall apart. You feel isolated, confused and desperate and may feel you have nowhere to turn for help and support.
Life becomes an emotional roller coaster for those left behind, leaving you emotionally vulnerable. Feelings of sadness, loss, guilt and anger are normal but leave you feeling emotionally drained.
Longing for direction, most families who have experienced a child or loved one missing say they wished they had a handbook to tell them what to do, what to expect, and how to respond.
(Statement by Colleen Nick, mother of Morgan Nick, missing since June 9, 1995. Photo courtesy of OJJDP.)
The Office of Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) created a handbook “When Your Child is Missing: A Family Survival Guide” providing direction to parents of missing children. It is an invaluable resource for families. However, since it was created, there have been many advancements in methods to distribute fliers and raise public awareness of missing persons.
With a missing person, it is imperative to gain public attention. Experts agree, every time you share information with the public, it creates the potential to generate that one lead law enforcement needs to bring that person home safe.
Much of the time, creating public awareness is a cooperative effort between the families of the missing person, media, and law enforcement. However, getting each to work cohesively with the other is sometimes difficult and much of the burden of creating social awareness falls on the family.
Social Media’s Role in Finding Missing Persons
Government agencies and police are increasingly using social media to help find missing persons. In fact, New York City Police Department launched a social media campaign to include the public in ongoing investigations, to both find missing persons and catch criminals.
“If a person goes missing, commands make initial notifications on social media. Then, posters are made,” said Zachary Tumin, deputy commissioner for strategic initiatives and leader of the NYPD’s social media efforts. “As that information gets retweeted by police and the public, word spreads very quickly to be on the lookout for that missing person.”
(NYPD actively utilizes Facebook and Twitter to search for missing persons.)
NYPD’s Facebook page currently has “822,054 Likes” with no sign of slowing down.
Prior to social media, distribution of information was always limited by limited geographic outreach, with missing person pages commonly only posted within the community the person went missing.
With social media platforms, it changed the landscape of searching for missing persons. Facebook has 2.37 billion users in 2019, Twitter 126 million daily users, and Instagram over 800 million, making it the ideal place to generate leads for law enforcement.
Mystery and misery linger in a missing person case. Many think the number of missing persons has risen in missing person cases, but experts say it is thanks to social media, not an actual increase in cases. “Missing persons have always been there, of course, but due to social media, the cases are more widespread,” said Ray Wagner, Director of Relations for Crimestoppers.
(Missing in Arizona’s post on Facebook for Elizabeth Breck who vanished from Tucson, Arizona, on January 13, 2019.)
Nothing compares to sharing information using social media platforms. The information posted is immediately available throughout the country, and the world.
Combining Social Media with News Media
Working with local and national media is also a critical component of searching for a missing person as news stories also have the long-time been proven to generate leads.
Here are some guidelines to follow when working with news media when a person is missing:
It is important to always speak to the investigating law enforcement agency prior to doing a news interview so as not to compromise an investigation. It is common for law enforcement to request minimal information about an investigation be shared in a news interview to protect their case, especially if a nonfamily abduction is suspected.
Consider using a public relations firm. Sometimes costly, they do have expertise in constructing press releases and attracting media interest. Try obtaining services pro bono. It doesn’t hurt to ask.
Appoint a family spokesperson, someone capable of speaking publicly and comfortable being in the public eye.
Keeping the media interested requires pulling at “heart strings” so plan on doing interviews on birthdays, anniversary dates, and holidays.
Remember, just because they ask a question, doesn’t mean you have to answer it.
Utilization of Social Media Platforms
Working with law enforcement cannot be over-emphasized. While using social media platforms gives you instant ability to mass communicate, and can be a source of significant support, it can also be a place where you may be scrutinized or asked many questions. Aside from being time consuming, the public has a tendency to ask questions, and it is important for you to only stick with the facts of an investigation without leaking tidbits of information by identifying a perpetrator or details of the investigation.
Utilizing any social network platform can be emotionally taxing, but worth utilizing when a family member is missing, and life may hang in the balance.
Available Platforms
There are several social media platforms that can help you widen your search, stay organized and reach various audiences.
Facebook helps raise social awareness, fundraise, organize events and keep your social network apprised of any new developments.
YouTube can help keep news coverage organized and a quick and effective way to post your media on other network platforms, involving people in your efforts.
Twitter can reach very large audiences to include politicians, celebrities and news stations.
Instagram can help with sharing photographs and “behind the scenes” images, while connecting with a younger audience that is very socially aware and involved.
Blogger or any blogging platform, can help by giving you a place to vent your everyday frustrations and emotions while sharing progress with readers.
Setting up Storage
When a love one is missing you can find yourself being asked over and over again for the same information and photographs of your loved one.
It is advisable to use a cloud content storage like Dropbox or Google Documents where you can create different folders or files such as press releases, letters, and high-quality photographs that media and other organizations can use to help raise public awareness. Also, utilizing “content storage” saves time and frustration when trying to email high resolution images.
Dropbox is free and offers up to 2GB of storage and Google Documents is free and offers 15GB of storage (to include emails and attachments).
Using Facebook
Appoint a trusted Administrator(s) to help you with the page.
Set up a “Page” in Facebook and choose a name consistent with the purpose such as “FIND BRYCE LASPISA” or “MISSING SARAH GALLOWAY.” Choose something and use both first and last name of the missing person.
Use high-quality photographs when possible and use a picture of the missing person as a profile picture.
Include a brief description of the missing person to include where they were last seen, along with law enforcement’s contact number or hotline.
Communicate clearly and succinctly in all posts.
Post at times the most people are going to see your posts, not in the middle of the night. According to a Buffer study, the best times of post on Facebook is between 1-3 p.m. during the week and on Saturdays, with Thursdays and Fridays having the most engagement.
Post consistently and frequently with “Calls to Action” such as asking people to share your post (and ask their friends to share), or ask they use a photo of the missing person flier as their profile picture for a week.
Always try to stay positive. The tone of your post matters.
Provides updates when possible and post any media interviews or links to television shows that may have profiled the missing person.
Don’t feel obligated to respond to any comment or message.
With social media, comes the potential for negative comments, messages or posts from users. Never feel the need to respond to negative correspondence or comments, just delete or hide negative comments as soon as you can.
Lastly, you can also pay for advertising on Facebook.
Advertising on Facebook
Everyone’s Facebook account comes with the ability to run ads. With Facebook Advertising, you can target specific locations the missing person may be most likely to be in, to include entire cities to just parts of a city. You can also target specific age groups and should be done as quickly as possible if you are able to afford it.
Choose your objective. These four categories can help you in the search for a missing loved one.
Promote your page
Boost your posts
Increase your reach
Raise attendance at your events
Define your audience.
Location. Start with country and state.
Age. Choose an age range. It is advisable to keep this broad to reach people of all ages (18-65+).
Language. Choose English if in the United States.
Define your budget.
Daily: a daily budget is the maximum amount your will spend per day during the timespan of your ad.
Lifetime: a longer-term budget you will spend during the lifetime of the ad.
Create new ad.
Choose your ad format (above).
Add content.
You get 90 characters of text to concisely share your message.
Use only high-quality images or video.
Use a name like “Have You Seen This Missing Person” or similar.
Image specs:
Recommended image size: 1200 x 628 pixels
Image ratio: 1.91:1
To maximize ad delivery, use an image that contains little or no overlaid text.
Video specs:
Format: .MOV or .MP4 files
Resolution: at least 720p
File size: 2.3 GB max.
Recommended aspect ratio: widescreen (16:9)
Facebook: 60 minutes max.
Most importantly, when using Facebook or any social media platform, check your messages and comments frequently so if someone contacts you with information you can forward it to law enforcement immediately.
Twitter
Twitter is a great social media platform to reach masses of people. There are more than 500 million Tweets per day on Twitter.
Set up a new account.
Like Facebook, choose a name consistent with the purpose.
Use a photograph of the missing person as a profile picture.
Tweet links to news coverage, interviews, and articles.
Use hash tags such as #Missing #State #Missing Person’s Name
Tweet to local and national media.
Tweet to celebrities, both local and national.
Keep your tweets brief.
Respond when someone tweets to you.
Follow similar pages.
Like Facebook and all social media platforms, it matters when you post on Twitter.
According to American Marketing Association, the best time to post on Twitter is Wednesdays and Fridays at 9 a.m., with most consistent engagement occurring Mon-Friday 8 a.m. – 4 p.m. Other studies have shown Mon-Friday between 12-3 p.m. is the best time. Saturday is the worst day to post and has least engagement.
While building followers and social media presence takes time, there are strategies and techniques you can use to increase your engagement and get more clicks.
Twitter engagement is when someone engages with the content that you post such as favoriting your tweet, retweeting your tweet, responding to your tweet or mentioning you in a separate tweet.
It is also important that you engage with other users’ content with likes, comments and retweets. When you engage with another user’s content, they will be more likely to pay attention to what you are posting too. This works across all social media platforms.
In addition, leverage other feeds and encourage your followers on Facebook and other platforms to follow you on Twitter and visa versa.
Learning Experience
Using social network platforms to find missing persons is still relatively new and is no doubt a learning process. One only needs to look at the numbers in order to gauge the success.
It is advisable to follow other families who have missing persons, advocacy agencies, and shows like In Pursuit with John Walsh or Vanished to gain ideas for successful posts and make valuable connections.
The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children is a 501c3 nonprofit based in Arlington, Virginia, and the largest missing child agency in the country. With over 655,000 people following their activity it is hard to ignore the agency’s social impact.
Again, try not to be discouraged as you try to grow your social networks and don’t let running the various platforms consume you. Again, it is recommended you share these tasks with other family members or friends that can assist you. Don’t be afraid to ask for help.
As said before, using social media is a learning experience, but rest assured you will get better as you go along. Remember HOPE is the most important thing to hold onto.
(Tricia Lynn Reitler went missing March 29, 1993 from Marion Indiana. Photo courtesy of ID Discovery.)
In March 1993, Tricia Lynn Reitler, 19, was a freshman psychology major at Indiana Wesleyan University in Marion, Indiana. Teachers described Tricia as a beautiful and brilliant student with a high grade point average. Her future was bright until . . . she vanished without a trace.
(Map of Indiana Wesleyan University showing Marsh Grocery store.)
The Disappearance
During the early evening of Tricia’s disappearance on March 29, 1993, she was writing a term paper and decided to take a short break to walk to Marsh Supermarket, approximately half a mile from the university campus. According to investigators, while at the store, she purchased a root beer and a magazine leaving the store to return to her dormitory in Bowman Hall. She never made it back.
Her disappearance has been a jigsaw puzzle that has kept investigators baffled for 26 years. After extensive searches, police discovered Tricia’s bloodstained jeans, shirt, and shoes in a field near Seybold Pool and the Center Elementary School. Also, police found small droplets of blood on an earring on the sidewalk about a quarter mile between the store and the campus.
Tricia was a runner. In fact, she had taken two runs that unseasonably warm Monday in March. Her father, Garry Reitler believes her flexibility and fitness contributed to the difficulty the canine tracking dogs had. During the search, her scent was all over the place in the area where the abduction had occurred.
(Tricia Reitler’s parents Garry and Donna standing in front of a billboard on 41st Street and Western Avenue in 1998, five years after Tricia’s disappearance.)
One More Day
Tricia’s disappearance results in parents without a daughter, siblings growing up never knowing their sibling, and a town still looking for answers 26 years later. Still, many questions remain.
“It’s unbelievable, I mean you walk around kind of like you are in a daze,” said Donna Reitler, Tricia’s mother. Donna has spent decades coping by carrying on for her husband and other three children. But moving on hasn’t been easy because she feared “moving on” meant leaving Tricia behind and she just couldn’t do that.
(Tricia Reitler, a freshman psychology student vanished while walking to Marsh store in Marion, Ind. Photo courtesy of CNN.)
Donna told the Chronicle-Tribune, “You tell yourself, ‘Oh, just one more day. Just one more day,’ and here you are 26 years later.”
Both parents have coped differently, but have managed to keep their marriage together, defying all odds. “Somebody says they saw her, or they found something,” said Garry. “It’s a struggle but as a father, you have to go out and look, you have to exhaust all of those leads.”
Garry has often worked alongside law enforcement in the search for his daughter.
Their daughter has appeared on CNN, C-SPAN, Dateline, even The Jerry Springer Show. People have written books and even a movie made for television but that doesn’t matter to Garry and Donna — they just need answers.
(Dep. Chief Stephen Dorsey explains the timeline of Tricia Reitler’s disappearance using a board that tracks the police investigation for the last 26 years. Photo courtesy of Chronicle Tribune.)
Law Enforcement’s Frustrations
“It’s a case that’s been worked by multiple agencies for years. It’s still difficult, there’s no doubt about that,” retired Marion Police Detective Jay Kay. “I’ve always tried to stay positive. I’ve always believed sooner or later; the answers will come forward.”
Though the investigation may seem at a standstill, according to Marion County Deputy Chief Stephen Dorsey as of March 2019, police are reviewing new DNA samples in the case. Dorsey says police want to put Tricia’s abductor in prison, but also want to find Tricia to ensure she is returned to her family where she belongs. It’s something Donna and Garry admit they need too.
“Still this whole thing of going over and over different scenarios that could have happened or maybe we didn’t think of this or maybe we should have gone here or this or that; like I said that does not stop,” Donna said. “To be able to bring her home and put her to rest; it’s not going to change the outcome. Tricia will still be gone, but I think for our family we will be able to move on to a certain degree.”
The Reitler’s and police have followed up on hundreds of leads over the years and one person keeps coming up. “We’ve had a number of suspects over the years, one being Larry Hall, however, we don’t have any evidence that puts Larry into the mix of Tricia being missing,” said Dep. Chief Stephen Dorsey of Marion Police Department.
(Larry DeWayne Hall is serving a life sentence on a federal kidnapping charge.)
A Serial Killer?
Larry DeWayne Hall is currently serving a life sentence at a medium-security federal psychiatric prison in North Carolina for the 1993 abduction of Jessica Roach, 15, near Georgetown, Illinois, a short distance from the Indiana border. Her body was later found in the fall of 1993, in a cornfield near Perrysville, Indiana.
(Jessica Roach was abducted from Georgetown, Ill., on September 20, 1993. Her body found later that fall in a cornfield in Perrysville, Ind.)
Jessica Roach
Jessica was last seen at approximately 3:30 p.m. on September 20, 1993, riding her bicycle near her home in Georgetown.
Hall was never charged with Roach’s murder because police could not pinpoint where she was killed. According to federal court records, Hall signed a written confession that he kidnapped and killed Jessica Roach, but he has since recanted. Some believe Hall is responsible for killing up to 40 women and girls.
Christopher Hawley Martin, author of Urges: A Chronicle of Serial Killer Larry Hall describes Hall as being bullied as a child and as a juvenile bedwetter. Martin writes that Hall traveled the country in his van as a Civil War reenactment buff.
Raised in a big house on a cemetery in Wabash, Indiana, identical twins Larry Hall and Gary Hall’s father was the sexton (gravedigger) at the cemetery. Both brothers were Civil War reenactors who kept to themselves, traveling to many states in pursuit of their pastime.
During the research for his book, Martin began traveling the country and researched disappearances and unsolved murders of women around each of the Civil War reenactment event that Hall was known to have ventured. The picture that emerged was frightening — there were many.
Martin began corresponding with Hall in prison and was able to obtain information on other missing and murdered girls.
(Laura Depies went missing August 19, 1992, from Menasha Wisconsin and has never been found.)
Laura Depies
Laura Jean Depies, 20, worked a shift at Graffiti store at Fox River Mall in Appleton, Wisconsin. At approximately 10:00 p.m., Laura and a co-worker locked the store and walked to their cars in the mall parking lot. Depies was going to her boyfriend’s home and headed east on College Avenue in her 1984 Volkswagen Rabbit. She pulled into the Town of Menasha parking complex (now Fox Crossing) and parked. Her friends can remember hearing her pull in, but she never arrived at her boyfriend’s apartment. Once they realized time had elapsed, they immediately went outside and started searching while calling the police. The only physical evidence found at the scene was Laura’s drinking cup left on the hood of her car.
Hall told Martin he stalked mall parking lots, plazas and stores looking for victims. Hall then claimed he spotted Laura Depies at a store and followed her to the apartment parking lot where she was chloroformed and abducted. He then assaulted and killed her at a remote location, claiming he dumped her body in a wooded area.
According to Fox 8 News, during the investigation of Jessica Roach’s murder, police found notes in Hall’s van that said “Lori” and “Fox River.” Investigators then concluded that Hall attended a Civil War Reenactment in Kaukauna the weekend before Depies vanished.
Hall has never been charged with the potential abduction and murder of Depies because there is a lack of physical evidence to support his confession. Due to red-tape, Wisconsin law enforcement has been unable to get Hall to Wisconsin to show them where he claims to have dumped Laura’s body.
Mark Depies, Laura’s father, doesn’t believe Hall.
“I’m not buying that much at all,” Depies said. “especially without a body or anything to go on other than he confessed.”
However, Menasha Police Department have said Hall knows things about the abduction only the killer and police would know.
“The unfortunate thing is I only have memories of her first 20 years,” Laura’s mother Mary Wegner told ABC News. “I don’t know that you can ever really have closure . . . there are still some loose ends that I feel need to be followed up, including finding the remains of my daughter.”
(Paulette Webster vanished September 2, 1988, while walking home from a friend’s house in Chester, Ill.)
Paulette Webster
Martin decided to question Hall about the abduction of Paulette Webster missing from Chester, Ill., pm on September 2, 1988.
Hall claimed Paulette was taken from the main east/west roads through Chester which is where she was, in fact, walking home from her friend’s house at approximately 11:00 p.m.
He also claims to have picked Paulette up near a mobile home park, which again Martin found was true. Hall then said he took Paulette to a remote location where she was kept and sexually assaulted for several hours. Hall said he either threw her in the Mississippi River or buried her.
Letters from Jail
In the letter to Martin, Hall goes also claims there are several girls buried in the Mark Twain forest in Missouri. This information has led some to believe he may have abducted Stacy McCall, Suzanne Streeter, and Streeter’s mother Sherrill Levitt. Known as the Springfield Three, they were all abducted from their home on June 7, 1992, in Springfield, Missouri.
Halls claims to have begun murdering young girls and women in the summer of his high school graduation in 1981. While Hall’s stories and admissions are compelling, law enforcement is still at a standstill without any of the bodies to pursue any murder charges.
Thomas Lauth of Lauth Investigations International headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, is a 25-year veteran in the field of missing persons and missing person private investigator who believes there is some credence to Hall’s claims, however, he also points out there are other serial killers out there too. “The FBI estimates as many as 50 serial killers operating in the United States at any given time,” said Lauth. “When we are talking that serial killers can average 30-40 victims during their lifetime (if not more), that is not a small number of victims when combined.”
Meanwhile, the parents of Tricia Reitler, Laura Depies, Paulette Webster and the many others Hall has admitted to abducting wait through heart-wrenching and never-ending days for answers that will enable them to finally bring their daughters home.
(Sherri Papini vanished November 2, 2016 while jogging near her Redding, California home and reappeared 22 days later.)
The story of Sherry Papini, 34, is one of the most bizarre kidnapping cases in recent years.
On November 2, 2016, Sherri, vanished without a trace in Northern California while jogging near her home in Redding. Her family and the community were shocked that such a beautiful and outgoing young woman could be abducted while innocently jogging in such a safe and tranquil place.
(Location in Woodland, California, where Sherri Papini was found by a passing motorist.)
22 days later, at approximately 4:30 a.m., on Thanksgiving morning, a passing motorist saw Papini desperately waving on the side of the road in Yolo County. The location is approximately 150 miles south of her home near Interstate 5 and County Road 17.
Papini was severely emaciated weighing only 85 pounds and bound at her waist by a chain that was fastened to her wrist with a zip tie. Shasta County Sheriff’s Office described hose clamps attached to both of her ankles as “pain compliant restraints.”
Papini told police she had been abducted at gunpoint by two Hispanic females driving a dark SUV, who primarily spoke Spanish around her. She had also been branded on the left shoulder, though a description of the brand has never been released.
Keith Papini, Sherri’s husband, described his wife as being covered in bruises that ranged from yellow to black, the bridge of her nose was fractured, and her long blonde hair cruelly chopped off.
(Sherri Papini vanished while jogging near her Redding, California home and reappeared 22 days later beaten and traumatized.)
The Disappearance
On November 2, Papini’s husband Keith returned from his job at Best Buy and could not find his wife at home. He was immediately concerned. He frantically searched the house and then pulled out his iPhone.
Keith told the 911 operator he came home from work to find his wife and children gone and that his wife had never arrived at daycare to pick them up. He also told the operator he used the “Find My iPhone” app to locate his wife’s cell phone and earbuds along a dirt trail at the intersection of Sunrise Avenue and Old Oregon Trail, approximately one mile from their home.
“I just drove down there, and I found her phone with her headphones because she started running again, and I found her phone and it’s got her hair ripped out of it, like in the headphones,” Keith told the NZ Herald. “I’m freaking out, thinking that somebody, like, grabbed her.”
When police began their investigation, they began a ground search and distributing flyers throughout the area shortly thereafter.
The search for Papini gained attention throughout the United States and internationally with people all over the world wondering what happened to Sherri Papini.
(Composite sketches of the suspects in the abduction of Sherri Papini on November 2, 2016 in Redding, California.)
Police Investigation
When Papini was found she had both female and male DNA on her. “It’s still an active and ongoing investigation,” said Shasta County Sheriff Tom Bosenko in November 2018. Police have not determined why Papini was abducted, where she had spent 22 days and why she was released.
Papini told police that just before her release, she heard her captors arguing, then a gunshot. The younger attacker then took her from the room where she had been held and dropped her off at the nearest corner. However, early on, her story wasn’t adding up to the police.
“The male DNA was compiled from the clothing Sherri had been wearing,” said Sgt. Brian Jackson. Also, the female DNA was taken directly from Papini’s body.
These facts didn’t coincide with the story that Papini had been abducted and held by two female abductors. Also, the male DNA did not match her husband’s, fueling speculation that Papini had met up with a man willingly. The DNA samples were uploaded in the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) at the FBI, but there have been no matches.
Frustrated with the lack of progress with the investigation by police, Keith Papini set up a GoFundMe page during 2017, to raise money for a missing person private investigator. This in turn would frustrate the police, who thought it would compromise the investigation.
(Sherri Papini, has undergone significant public scrutiny after telling police that she was abducted by two Hispanic females and held captive for 22 days.)
Public Speculation
Theories and speculation began swirling around in the public sphere about what happened to her, including conjecture that she had been kidnapped by sex traffickers, was involved in a drug deal gone bad, or had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time, but somewhere along the line the public started doubting Papini’s story.
While police say they have no reason not to believe her story, some details of her case caused some people to question whether she had been taken and held against her will.
During the police investigation, authorities had uncovered text messages between Sherry and a male acquaintance who resides in Michigan. Police determined they had an online texting relationship, but it was unclear if the two ever had a romantic relationship.
“The text messages went back several months to days before the disappearance,” Jackson told People. “It was prior contact that she had years before. Somebody she met and kept in contact with. A male acquaintance she was talking to through texting.”
Many experts believe the public scrutiny of Papini’s story has been unfair. Thomas Lauth, CEO of Lauth Investigations International is an expert in the field of missing persons and a missing person private investigator for over 25 years. “Few people would ever willingly subject themselves to the abuse and trauma Papini experienced,” said Lauth. “The branding, the starvation, the cutting of hair willingly — just does not make sense.”
(Mother of two, Sherri Papini, vanished November 2, 2016, while jogging near her Redding, California home, and found 22 days later emaciated on the side of the road 150 miles away.)
Papini’s Life After the Abduction
Three years later, police seem no closer to closing this mysterious case. The paparazzi still follow Papini around trying to get a shot, which has forced her to live like a recluse.
Last year, a neighbor told Newsweek that Papini leads a “very quiet life” at home and rarely goes outside while trying to put back the pieces of her life.
“She doesn’t come out of the house,” neighbor Joyce Allison said. “I don’t see the kids outside playing in the yard.”
(After the kidnapping, the Papini family now avoid the paparazzi, living like recluses.)
Another neighbor who requested anonymity said they just wanted the family to find closure. “I hope if her story is true that she’s getting along alright and getting counseling so she can live with it and get better,” the neighbor said. “But, is it a real story? I don’t know. I hope one day we’ll all have answers.”
For the Papini family, we can only try to imagine what life has been like being forced into hiding and that they, too, need answers.
While scars heal and hair grows back, the brand on her shoulder will forever be a reminder of the traumatic events she endured, whether the public believes her or not.
Former Globetrotter, Rico Harris, 42, vanished without a trace from the Cache Creek Regional Park in northern California on a warm evening on October 10, 2014. His mysterious disappearance continues to baffle authorities.
Early Life
Harris was born on May 19, 1977, to parents Margaret Fernandez who was a caregiver to the elderly, and Henry Harris, a semiprofessional basketball player. The firstborn of four children, his early childhood was chaotic due to his father’s abusiveness, his parents’ divorce, and several moves, first to Oregon, then to Los Angeles, and finally to Alhambra, California.
Growing up Rico was soft-spoken and bashful, and he was thought of like a gentle giant. Friends and family remember him as always having a smile. He wanted to help others and was described as very hardworking. His dream, was to become a professional basketball player.
He felt becoming a pro basketball player would help him give his mother a better life, who struggled to raise four children and hold down miscellaneous jobs. To pursue his dream, he attended Temple City High School and joined their basketball team. He quickly became the star player of the school.
(Rico Harris was an all-star athlete in high school with high hopes to play in the NBA.)
After graduating high school, Rico attended Arizona State University (ASU), which accepted him even though he had very poor academic performance. Still, scholarship offers rolled in for one for the country’s top 10 recruits. UCLA wanted Harris, Connecticut wanted him, and Kentucky wanted him.
He had the opportunity to play for several NCAA basketball programs, but between personal and academic obstacles, those opportunities never materialized. To add to his problems while at ASU, he was arrested with two others on suspicion of imprisonment, but he was never charged.
Rico then transferred to Los Angeles City College where he led the team to its first national championship title but then transferred once again to Cal-State Northridge.
(Rico Harris joined the Harlem Globetrotters in spring of 2000, but his career was short-lived.)
However, in the spring of 2000, Rico joined the Harlem Globetrotters. His skills were the ideal for the shows and he seemed to have found his niche.
A month after joining the Globetrotters, he was out driving with friends in South Los Angeles and got into a dispute with people and got hit in the head with a baseball bat. Soon after the head injury, he began complaining of severe headaches and balance issues and had to leave the Globetrotters. At 24 years old, his basketball career was over . . . and he was lost.
“I saw firsthand Rico could have had a million-dollar check, easy, easy, easy,” said Chris Thompson, a long-time friend, and teammate at L.A. City College. “Something happened to my brother in his spirit that didn’t allow him to break through the ceiling.”
During 2001 through 2007, Rico had numerous appearances in Superior Court for everything from burglary and trespassing to public intoxication. He finally hit “rock bottom” and overdosed on prescription medication. Rico then decided to enter rehab at Salvation Army Adult Rehabilitation Center where he remained sober and had a job for approximately 7 years.
(Rico Harris and his girlfriend Jenifer Song who resided in Seattle, Washington before his disappearance on October 10, 2014.)
Rico’s Girlfriend
While working private security at a nightclub in Los Angeles, Rico met his girlfriend Jennifer. Jennifer Song was an insurance broker from Seattle, Washington. They began a long-distance relationship and visited each other on weekends for several years.
Rico began moving his things to Seattle in 2014, as he planned to marry Jennifer. Adjusting, in the beginning, was difficult for Rico. Jennifer noticed a significant change in Rico’s behavior in September 2014, so she confronted him about his sobriety. He then admitted he had relapsed in July.
Days Leading Up to Disappearance
On October 8, 2014, Rico told Jennifer that he wanted to adventure around Seattle while she went to work out at the gym. Upon returning home at approximately 8:00 p.m. that evening, Rico still wasn’t home, so she sent a text and learned he was traveling through Oregon on his way back to Alhambra.
Rico arrived at his mother’s home at 2:00 p.m., on October 9. She was concerned because Rico didn’t sleep the entire time he was there, and she thought he had been drinking. She was going to insist Rico sleep before heading back to Seattle the following day but didn’t have the chance.
After being up for nearly 40 hours straight, Rico left on October 10 at approximately 1:00 a.m. to embark on a 1,100-mile road trip from Alhambra back to Seattle.
Jennifer called Rico’s cell at approximately 8 a.m., and he told her he was in Sacramento getting fuel. Both Margaret and Jennifer tried to call Rico the remainder of the day but there was no answer. Finally, at 10:44 a.m., Rico sent a text to Jennifer apologizing for missing her call.
That would be the last call or text she would receive.
(Remote rest area in Cache Creek Regional Park where Rico Harris’s abandoned vehicle was located.)
The Disappearance
When Rico never arrived at Jennifer’s home, she became worried. At around 8:00 p.m. Jennifer called Rico’s mother to ask her to file a missing person report, but they decided to wait.
However, on October 12, a sheriff’s deputy in Yolo County was conducting a routine check of a parking lot in a place called Lower Site, a remote rest area in Cache Creek Regional Park, approximately 6 hours from Los Angeles. During the lot inspection, he saw a black Nissan Maxima parked off to the side but passed by and didn’t think too much of it until he spotted the same car the following day. He ran the plates and discovered it was registered to Rico Harris and called the Alhambra Police Department.
Alhambra police officers went to Margaret’s house and told her that it had been found abandoned hundreds of miles away. Panicked, Margaret then called Jennifer who immediately filed a missing person report launching an official investigation.
According to the family, the 6-foot-nine, 280-pound former Globetrotter also suffers from bi-polar, and they were very concerned about his well-being.
(Rico Harris’s cell phone pinged 70 miles away from his car in Redwood Valley.)
The Investigation
Law enforcement immediately contacted Rico’s cell phone provider and requested recent pings that would direct them to the approximate location of Rico’s cell phone and found it pinged in the Redwood Valley area, nearly 70 miles away from where Rico’s car was found. Police proceeded to contact everyone that lived in the area.
When authorities inspected Rico’s vehicle, they discovered it was out of gas and the battery was dead. They also found his Washington state driver’s license and his credit card. Detectives then wondered if Rico had even driven the car to where it had been abandoned or if somebody else had. The car was processed for fingerprints and DNA.
A search and rescue team comprised of ATVs and an aircraft with heat-sensing camera on board, was assigned to the area and searched a 50-mile radius around the parking lot and 27 miles along Route 16 through the rugged canyon and a two-lane road that winds through Capay Valley’s steep hills and organic farms, about a hour northwest of Sacramento.
No trace of Rico was ever found in the woods or on the road but authorities did find very large footprints and inserts from tennis shoes down by Cache Creek which meant he was the one who drove his vehicle there.
Police used cadaver dogs from a volunteer group but nothing. Authorities scaled back the search by the end of October.
(A witness called police to tell them he had found Rico Harris’s cell phone inside a backpack alongside Route 16, in Redwood Valley, California.)
A promising lead came in from a man who said he had found Rico’s cellphone inside a backpack alongside the road in Redwood Valley.
When police went to pick up the backpack, they only had more questions. At the location where it was found, there was no sign of a struggle and they were baffled as to why Rico would have left it there. Inside were jumper cables, some clothing, and bottles of what was believed to be alcohol. Police began to speculate that possibly Rico went down by the creek, came back up to the road at a different location, and left his backpack there.
Searches continued for several days on nearby fire roads and canyons, to include the creek, but no trace of Rico was ever found.
Once reports of Rico’s disappearance hit the news, dozens of witnesses called the Yolo County Sheriff. One witness said he has seen a very large individual walking on a cattle guard near the bushes near the parking lot where his vehicle was eventually found. Another said he saw a man matching Rico’s description walking southbound on Highway 16. Three more came in from Redwood Valley further indicating that Rico had hitchhiked there.
(Margaret Fernandez holds up her mementos of her missing son Rico Harris.)
A Mother’s Hope
Margaret Fernandez, Rico Harris’s mother, admits the Rico she knew was long missing way before the police report was made. She had spent years watching her son fade away as his dreams dampened.
In the aftermath of her son’s disappearance, Margaret went into a deep depression that left her devastated. What did help her though, was speaking to other families of missing persons to share their stories and personal experiences. Missing person organizations like Black & Missing have offered resources to help raise awareness of Rico’s disappearance by distributing Rico’s missing person flyer through social media platforms and offering emotional support.
Jennifer and Margaret have also become closer since Rico’s disappearance, calling each other nearly every day and seeing each other frequently.
“This is a pain that’s deep, that goes down to your core,” Margaret said while tears stream down her face. “It’s like you are on a merry-go-round and can’t get off. Nothing is going to quiet the pain . . . he could still be alive. Maybe he’s not. I don’t know what the truth is. I don’t know. People don’t just vanish.”
Margaret still holds onto her son’s clothing in bins –waiting on his return.
However, each time Margaret’s flip-phone rings she gets a sinking feeling in her gut. While she wants her son found, she dreads hearing the worst.
Commonly called America’s Corn Belt, southern Indiana is a fertile state where you can find hilly farmland that stretches into the states of Illinois and Iowa on up to the higher hills and majestic glacial kettle lakes. A place where families gather for holidays and traditional family values are still alive and well.
But Indiana also has a dark side where the light has been overshadowed by fear. A place where those who have vanished have left no trace.
Denise Pflum
(Denise Pflum, 18, was last seen leaving her home March 28, 1986 from Connersville, Indiana.)
The Disappearance
Denise Pflum, 18, was last seen leaving her house on March 28, 1986, in Connersville, Indiana. An honors student, a brilliant artist, and a promising scientist, Denise was the apple of her father’s eye.
“It was Good Friday. A beautiful Good Friday weather-wise,” said her father David Pflum. Now, 33 years later, she remains missing and still no answers as to what transpired that day.
It started with a house party she went to the night before her disappearance. Denise forgot her purse so the following day she told her family that she had plans to go search for it. It would be the last time anyone would ever see Denise again.
“We do not believe that she ever went back to that area—something or some person interrupted that opportunity to do that,” said David. “We knew right away that something was wrong because she had never been out without our knowledge about where she was going to be. When time unfolded into the next day and the subsequent next days then we knew we really had a problem and the problem has continued on now for 32 years,” David told WTHR 13 in 2018.
The neverending nightmare continues for the Pflum family.
(An honor roll student and high achiever, Denise Pflum vanished one month before her highschool prom in 1986.)
A Rising Star
Active in track, volleyball, softball, and basketball, her activities included 4-H. She was also the top of her class at Connersville High School. She planned to go to Miami University in Ohio to major in microbiology, but the bright light of her future was suddenly snuffed out.
With her prom dress already picked out, a month before her prom the highschool senior would vanish in broad daylight.
A family left tormented. “There are days that go by and it is almost like you are floating because you are so consumed by the thought and the various thoughts about what has happened to your daughter, who is responsible, what kind of action took place,” said David.
Advancing Technology
The day after Denise’s disappearance her Buick Regal was found in a rural farm in the neighboring town of Greenwood. In 1986, the car was processed by police for fingerprints and other evidence but none was found.
In recent years, with advancing technology, police collected DNA samples from the family, along with a DNA sample from Denise they were able to obtain through evidence. Those DNA samples were uploaded into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), a national database at the FBI.
With the advancement in technology, evidence was resubmitted to the Indiana State Police lab to check for any new results but those tests produced no new results.
(David and Judy Pflum with family and law enforcement distributing fliers on what would have been Denise’s 51st birthday on January 14,2018.)
Now in their 70s, David and Judy Pflum fear they will pass without knowing what happened to their daughter.
“We feel compelled to keep looking. You don’t give up, you spend your life looking,” Judy said.
Karena McClerkin
(Karena McClerkin was last seen October 11, 2016, near her home in Kokomo, Indiana.)
Kokomo is a small city with a population of only 40,000. During 2017, there were only 6 reported homicides, that were all solved. A safe town where abductions of young girls just don’t happen. In fact, there are only three unsolved disappearances in Kokomo history.
On October 11, 2016, Karena McClerkin, 18, was last seen walking in the 1000 block of South Washington Street in Kokomo, Indiana. She left her wallet and identification behind and has never been seen or heard from again.
Police have executed search warrants and pursued several leads over the past three years but none have led them any closer to finding her.
The McClerkin family has hired four private investigators over the years to help follow up on leads, including a tip from an inmate who claimed to know where Karena was buried. However, that tip and so many others have gone nowhere.
(Karena McClerkin’s father, James McClerkin has been tirelessly searching for his daughter since the day she disappeared in October 2016. Photo courtesy of RTV6.)
A Father’s Promise
Karena’s father, James McClerkin has been tirelessly searching for his daughter since her disappearance. James has handed out hundreds of fliers while canvassing the neighborhoods where his daughter went missing.
“I just need answers,” James said. “I just need people to talk. It’s not snitching — trying to help find a kid.”
For James time has been the enemy.
Kokomo Police Department has continued to investigate the case, even bringing in cadaver dogs to search portions of Howard County. They also offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to Karena’s whereabouts and arrest of the individual responsible for her disappearance, all to no avail.
However, James didn’t want to stop there. The previous reward would have only been awarded if there was an arrest . . . now James just wants answers. James is now preparing to withdraw his 401k and use the $75,000 to create a reward that simply leads to her whereabouts.
“It’s just to keep her alive, keep it going, and keep the information out there,” said James. “I’m just trying to get new details back in. Right now we don’t have anything . . . All it has to do is lead to my daughter. It doesn’t have to lead to an arrest or anything, just my daughter, her body, or herself. They can have the cash.”
(Karena’s grandmother Gerry McClerkin holding her picture on the front stoop of her home.)
Grandmother’s Heart is Broken
Gerry McClerkin is Karena’s grandmother and when the two spent time together they would always hold hands.
“I didn’t get to see her all the time, but when I did and we said goodbye, we’d both cry almost every time,” Gerry told Dateline.” When I think about the last time I said goodbye to her, it’s even more heartbreaking now.”
Things were rough for Karena prior to her disappearance. Karena had been dealing with a number of substance abuse issues. Her grandmother recalls seeing her hanging out with an older crowd, and very concerned about her granddaughter’s future.
“I told her not to go down that path. That there were other, bigger things she could do with her life,” Gerry said. “She had her whole life in front of her.”
Prior to the disappearance, Karena seemed to be listening, as she had talked about going into a rehabilitation facility in Florida. She began to fill out the paperwork.
Then she vanished.
Rumors began swirling around town right away and some of the stories continue to haunt Gerry. She heard Karena’s body had been thrown into a waterway to conceal the crime, and that her granddaughter had been killed and buried in a tarp in a wooded area. Those are not the worst Gerry has heard.
“It’s just a horrible mess, and the things you hear just make you sick,” said Gerry. “I didn’t want to believe she is dead. It took me a while to accept that idea.”
(Gerry McClerkin, Karena’s grandmother believes there should be more media interest in her daughter’s case.)
Lack of Media Interest
Another thing that bothers the McClerkin family is the lack of interest on behalf of the media and the authorities.
Gerry doesn’t believe Kokomo police have taken the disappearance seriously and failed to follow up on leads reported to them.
“Every and all leads are being investigated,” Captain Cockrell told Dateline. “The family has been updated on all searches. It’s not just leads we are following up on, it’s any and all avenues in relation to this case.”
Gerry wishes her granddaughter’s case was all over the news like other cases in the state. “Because of her race and age and the situation, no one seems to care,” Gerry told Dateline. “None of it means she isn’t important. Every person is important and that includes my granddaughter.”
“She may have been out there since October. All alone. But where?” said Gerry. We aren’t going to give up until we find her.”
Lauren Spierer
(Lauren Spierer, 20, vanished from downtown Bloomington, Indiana on June 3, 2011).
Lauren Spierer, 20, a sophomore from New York was attending Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. On June 3, 2011, she went out on the town with friends and vanished from downtown Bloomington as she was walking home to her Smallwood Plaza apartment at approximately 4:30 a.m., in the vicinity of 11th Street and College Avenue.
Lauren had left the bar without her shoes or cell phone and later seen on surveillance stumbling out of an elevator at her apartment.
(Captain Joe Qualters of the Bloomington Police Department displays video surveillance photograph of a vehicle seen in the area on the night Lauren Spierer vanished.)
Lauren’s case has received national attention and the Bloomington Police Department says the case is still a top priority.
As of May 24, 2013, investigators have received 3,060 tips on Lauren’s disappearance, 100 of them being received during the first half of 2013.
On January 28, 2016, the FBI conducted a raid of a home in Martinsville, Indiana, approximately 20 miles north of Bloomington. Police said the raid was connected to a man suspected of exposing himself to women.
Thousands of other leads have been followed throughout the years but none have led police any closer to deliver answers to the Spierers.
(Rob and Charlene Spierer commemorate the date of Lauren’s disappearance with a letter to her abductor.)
A Mother’s Letter
It has been eight years of not knowing for Lauren’s family, but they say they still hope someone will eventually reveal the “brutal truth.”
This year, on the eighth anniversary of Lauren’s disappearance, Lauren’s mother Charlene wrote a Facebook post to Lauren’s abductor just like she has done in the past. Her letters give a glimpse into the ambiguity and loss the parents of missing children experience and the never-ending roller coaster they ride.
“Eight years after Lauren’s disappearance and we are no closer to finding her or getting answers. The expression, “the more things change the more they stay the same” seems apropos. We continue living in the past and in the present.
No one escapes this life unscathed. Everyone has struggles and somehow, we all survive but it is not without costs.
As every June 3rd approaches, I am faced with the dread of reliving all the horrific minutes of that day and the days which followed. I now know of course, despite how desperately I wanted to believe the words “we will find her, it just wasn’t meant to be.”
Our timeline has no end. It begins with a phone call from my husband who heard the news that Lauren was missing from our older daughter, Rebecca. In an instant, our family was irrevocably changed. The not knowing is almost unbearable.
Over the course of these last 8 years we have tried our hardest to get answers but the brutal truth, the only truth, is that any resolution depends on someone willing to come forward with information.
Despite everything, something propels us forward. Of course, it is hope. Hope that today someone will have the courage, to tell the truth, or send an email or make a call or post a lead on social media.
We still have a PO box in Bloomington, just waiting to receive a letter with words that will lead us to the truth. It remains unfilled. Another dead end. No tips or leads have ever been sent which took us one step closer.
Logically you think…it’s anonymous…what you don’t realize is that the monster responsible for Lauren’s disappearance simply does not care.
Hope is a strange bedfellow. Some days you want to abandon all hope but our desire to bring Lauren home whether literally or figuratively is a strong motivator.
To those responsible, you’ve moved on, but we have not. We will never give up. There is always someone actively working to find you. SOMEONE IS ALWAYS LOOKING FOR YOU.
How ironic, just as we are looking for Lauren, we are just as diligently looking for you. I have to believe that someday you will let your guard down. You will need to share your truth and it will just be too big for the person you’ve told to keep it to themselves. That is what we hope for.
Missing you Lauren. Loving you with all our hearts.
Eight years later…. Just as determined as day one. Hoping today is the day.” Charlene Spierer
Charlene works tirelessly to find her daughter and runs a website and the Official Lauren Spierer Updates from Her Family Facebook page. In the midst of the ambiguity, she is somehow able to function to help continue to raise awareness of her daughter’s disappearance.
The Spierer’s don’t believe their daughter is alive. It’s a potential reality that many parents can never bring themselves to.
Robert Spierer told the Journal News that both parents are trying to be realistic.
“We know that is she had the chance to reach out to us, she would have done it,” he said.
While parents of missing children await answers, as days and years drag on, one thing remains very clear. The light of their children’s hearts will forever shine bright in theirs.
