Missing Person Commentary

By: Shane Lambert Season 2 of the hit TV show Forensic Files  included an episode (Episode 12) that contained information that those that work on missing person's cases should note. The episodes tell of the missing person's case of Dario Cicolecchia, a boy in Switzerland who went missing in 1993. Importantly, this boy was found, his murderer was apprehended, and this murderer also made statements to the police about how he operated. I think there's a nugget of information that's worth extracting from this and using as food for thought in similar cases. Dario went missing after departing his home on a bicycle to go fishing. He was later found dead and mutilated in a Swiss cornfield. Forensic Medicine, the branch of forensics that deals with the body, was used in this case and it was discovered that the boy had been drowned. In the water in the boy's lungs, investigators found diatoms, which are simple one-cell organisms that are only found in water.  They

NamUs doesn't have a lot of information posted for those looking at the case of Jacqueline Kinney . The site says she went missing on December 5th, 1969 from Canton, Connecticut. At time of writing, 50 years are about to pass since she went missing. I've decided that 50 years is my deadline for working on a MP's case so I thought I'd give her case an hour of research tonight. From Namus: She was 35 when she went missing She was 5'4" She was 150 pounds Last known location was 41.8534128,-72.88699299999999 Red/auburn hair, blue eyes Surgery-related scar on right side of abdomen Scar on back of her left leg below the knee Vaccination scar on one of her legs above the knee Information I gathered from reading articles in historical newspaper articles: From The Hartford Courant. September 2nd, 1977. Page 5. She was of 7 High Street, Collinsville section Her husband's name was Gerald; he reported her missing on December 8th, which is three

By: Shane Lambert The missing person's case of Trenny (Teresa) Lynn Gibson is one of the most puzzling missing person's cases from the 1970s. Trenny was a part of a school field trip on October 8th, 1976 near a site called Clingsman Dome in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. She went missing from a trail at about 3pm despite being part of a large group of classmates taking the trail. She has not been heard from since. Those thinking about this case should be aware of the case of Phillip Roman in 1994. He went missing near Clingsman Dome as well. He was found three days later alive and well but there are still some pointers about the trails near Clingsman Dome that should be noted. Roman was only 20 feet away from his father on the trail when he went missing. He was 10 years old and looking for a shortcut to the parking lot. The "tangled mess" of the area then caused him to get lost. The impression I get of the area is that a short off-trail excursion might

Emma Lorene Vaughn's date of last contact is July 10th, 1982 according to NamUs. According to some newspaper clippings from 1982, the date was actually July 1st, 1982. The contradiction might be relevant. It's possible the news agencies had the date wrong too but websleuths should be open to considering Jane Does found in the nine days between July 1st, 1982 and July 10th, 1982. Here are the articles: Tallahassee Democrat, May 26th, 1985 Feb. 21, 1982. The Palm Beach Post.

By: Shane Lambert Virginia Lynne Uden went missing with her two sons, last seen on September 12th, 1980. Her case details, according to NamUs, are as follows: 32 years old Caucasian female 5'6" and 170lbs Brown hair, brown eyes Birthmark on the left lower eyelid Last seen in Riverton, Wyoming Vehicle located with blood in the back seat thought to belong to one of her sons Richard and Reagan Uden are also missing May have been traveling to the boy's adoptive father's residence The news did cover this disappearance. Her vehicle was a station wagon and it was found in Shoshone National Forest. NamUs #MP83   Fri, Dec 5, 1980 – 2 · Casper Star-Tribune (Casper, Wyoming) · Newspapers.com Virginia's mother offered a $1000 reward for information. An article about that is below while the actual advertisement is further below. NamUs #MP83   Thu, Aug 20, 1981 – 15 · Casper Star-Tribune (Casper, Wyoming) · Newspapers.com NamUs #MP83   Thu, Aug

By: Shane Lambert NamUs #MP59776 stands out in the month of September 2019 for NamUs. It was just added to the database even though the MP was last seen in 1931. Here's what NamUs states on the matter: last contact: March 4th, 1931 aged 22 years ( meaning the birth year of 1909) White female 5'0" to 5'10" (note: the range here is HUGE) 100 to 180lbs (note: huge range) last seen in Monticello, Indiana last documented location was at the birth of a daughter, Barbara Annette Fulks I searched her name in newspaper databases. Nothing appeared for the exact name but "Opal Fulks" worked. Her husband Emery Fulks sought a divorce, according to an article I found in 1939: NamUs #MP59776   Mon, Jul 31, 1939 – Page 5 · Logansport Pharos-Tribune (Logansport, Indiana) · Newspapers.com Emery Fulks requests divorce   Tue, Aug 1, 1939 – 2 · Journal and Courier (Lafayette, Indiana) · Newspapers.com

By: Shane Lambert NamUs #UP60245 notes: Adult pre-50 years old Height 4'11" to 5'1" Female Hispanic/latino Body found: June 10th, 1988 (decomposed) Brown hair Found in an orange grove in rural McFarland, California Clothing description at NamUs The following article appears to be related to the case. It's strange in that it actually names a murder victim who was found in an orange orchard near McFarland on the same date as NamUs #UP60245. Coincidence? Related news? I thought it was worth posting.  At first glance, the newspaper article below and the NamUs description for #UP60245 appear to be of one and the same person based on the dates matching and the orange-grove location. That forces one to ask why #UP60245 is considered unidentified. Could be that these are not one and the same person or that the original identification was wrong? Related to NamUs #UP60245   Fri, Jul 8, 1988 – 9 · Tulare Advance-Register (Tulare, California) · News

NamUs details for #UP59983: Female Hispanic/latino 18-25 years about 4'11" about 116 pounds hit-and-run victim walking west along highway 905 brown hair brown eyes clothing and jewelry available at NamUs Opinion: This hit-and-run happened very close to the American/Mexican border. Based on the individual's latino/hispanic ethnicity, those looking at this case may need to consider the possibility that this individual was a Mexican national. This means you may have to cross-reference this case with missing Mexican nationals.   Sun, Dec 25, 1988 – 110 · The Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, California) · Newspapers.com Read the following article, one that discusses hit-and-run accidents in the area as a phenomenon that has something to do with illegal immigration in the area.   Wed, Aug 30, 1989 – 23 · The Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, California) · Newspapers.com

NamUs #UP1498 is an unidentified person. According to NamUs, her details are as follows: Body found: July 1st, 1980 Location: Neptune, New Jersey Age: estimated 20-30 years old Sex: Female Race: White Estimated to have died: in 1980 Height: 5'7" Weight: 135 pounds Approximate Google Maps coordinates of body: 40.2091219,-74.0386271 (behind Shore Bowling Alley) Hair: brown She had $27 in bills. She had "Zena" blue jeans, a dark blouse with gold threads, no bra, no belt, and black briefs. Her footwear was sneaker size 7.5. She had two neck chains, one is a gold metal-choker chain with 0.5" letter T. She had a ring, white metal with a white stone and a bracelet of a brown tortoise shell. Pictures of jewelry and footwear are at NamUs . Case research/expanded details: The NamUs description says that she died in 1980, meaning before July 1st, 1980 -- the day her body was found. I found one newspaper article discussing this case that may pinpoin t

By: Shane Lambert Updated: July 2nd, 2023 A mystery has endured for over 40 years for those that knew  Ralph Malaiakini, 27, Scott Moorman, 27, Benjamin Kalama, 38, Patrick Woessner, 26, and Peter Hanchett, 31. Those five sailors left a port near Hana, Hawaii on February 11th, 1979 and what exactly happened to them after that remains a mystery.  The five sailors set sail into the Pacific Ocean from Hana on a vessel known as the Sarah Joe, a 17-f oot motor-powered boat .   According to the original reporting from Hawaii in 1979, there were messages of distress from the boat the day it disappeared. The sailors indicated that they were having engine trouble early in the evening (Honolulu Star-Bulletin Feb 12, 1979).  Unfortunately, gale winds picked up, the men couldn't be reached when they indicated that they were in distress, and subsequent rescue attempts failed. This was despite the use of what appeared to be an intelligent search method over water. In the Februa

By: Shane Lambert I had a look at the case of Ruth Marie Severance tonight (may be called Ruth Marie Jones-Severance). She's someone that has been missing since December 11th, 1982 from Houston, Texas. Her missing-person profile at NamUs does not offer a ton of information. However, here are the details provided: 24 years old as of December 11th, 1982 Only 4'10" 110 lbs White/Caucasian Google Map's last-known location: 29°45'37.5"N 95°22'11.3"W Blond/strawberry hair Hazel eyes Clothing: green and white jacket, navy-blue shirt, and blue jeans Regarding the circumstances of her disappearance, the NamUs profile leaves a lot to be desired. I had a look through an online newspaper database in search of details for her case for Websleuths and others interested in this case. Here is a summary of what I found (from Feb 9th, 1983 Victoria Advocate). The last person to see her was her ex-husband The ex-husband was named Pete Severance,