The Average Missing Person Case According to AI: Insights from My Blog

The Following is NOT a True Case of a Missing Person. Rather, it is content generated mainly by Grok, X's artificial intelligence. I uploaded numerous cases from this site and asked Grok to produce an average case.

I did take some personal liberties in editing what it spat out. My own comments appear in hard brackets [like this]. Also, I inserted some sentences myself.

I would say that this sounds a bit humorous at times. But there is something to learn from it as well.

- Shane Lambert

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The Disappearance of Alexis Z. Harper: Missing Since 1985 (FICTION)

On a quiet evening in the late summer of 1985, 18-year-old Alexis Z. Harper vanished without a trace, apparently into thin air [Yes, "without a trace" always is the phrase that gets used or "into thin air." Shane]

Alexis Z., a young woman standing about 5’4” tall and weighing around 115 pounds, had a slender build, long blonde-brown hair, and striking blue-brown eyes. [You know, blue-brown eyes. Shane] She was Caucasian. [Sorry, will try to do cases involving non-Caucasian males a little more often. Shane]

Known for a burn scar on her left arm and a small tattoo on her upper back, she was last seen in a small town on the west coast of either Canada or the USA—a vague location reflecting the scattered geography of her life. [Not sure where this came from. Usually, there is a fairly definite last sighting of her. Shane]

Born in the mid-1960s to a working-class family, Alexis Z. had recently moved out of her family home, seeking independence, and was working a part-time job, perhaps at a fast-food joint or diner, while navigating the challenges of young adulthood. [Okay, so people go missing as young adults because they are still naive about the world at a time when they have to go full steam ahead into it, I guess. Shane]

Details of Her Disappearance

That night in the summer of 1985, Alexis Z. was last spotted around 9:30 PM. The details are hazy: some say she was heading to a bus stop after dinner with friends, but possibly she was planning to hitchhike home. Others claim she was leaving her residence or a casual hangout at a bowling alley or restaurant.

They described her clothing from that night. But the inherent contradictions from numerous eyewitnesses only befuddled matters.

Some said, she had a beat-up sedan from the mid-1970s—maybe blue or tan. She had borrowed it from her family.

Others said perhaps she was on foot, relying on public transit or a ride from a stranger. When it came to light that her parents' vehicle was missing, this provided an investigation starting point.

Why didn't they mention this pertinent detail before? The public raised an eyebrow at the alcoholic father just as police began looking for the car. When the image of the vehicle appeared on TV, local philanthropists then posted posters in public.

Hesitant witnesses eventually came forward. They recalled seeing her with someone—a vague figure, possibly a man in his 20s or 30s, driving a sporty car like a Camaro—or maybe she was alone, stepping into the night to run an errand or escape a restless home life. [Ahhh the beauty of consistent eyewitnesses. Shane]

Weeks later, her car—or what might have been her car—turned up abandoned near a vineyard, about 10 miles from where she was last seen. The vehicle was a riddle: mud-splattered, with two or three flat tires, and personal items left inside for some reason. Wherever she went, she didn't need her wallet anymore.

Some speculated vandalism, others a "Good Samaritan’s Ruse"—a predator tampering with the car, alerting her to the problem but only to lure her into danger. Alternatively, she might have ditched it herself, packed her belongings, and hitched a ride that went wrong.

The police found no signs of a struggle, but foul play was suspected from the start. Her BMI of around 20 suggested a healthy yet slight frame, not someone who’d easily vanish unnoticed. Apparently, it was easier to make her disappear than the car she was driving.

Police budgets were sparse those days -- a sign of the times. Young people often got up and left entirely on their own account. So Alexis Z.’s disappearance stumped authorities.

At 18, she was caught between youth and independence—too old to be dismissed as a typical runaway, too young for her fate to fade quietly. Newspapers ran a few stories on her birthday and then on the same date every year that marked her disappearance's anniversary. Concerned citizens shook their heads over the demise of society.

The newspapers quoted her parents, who accepted that she was probably dead but still wanted closure. They asked for anyone to come forward or for the killer who must have taken her to clear his conscience.

But was it a random predator? Yes, it probably was because there were no known serial killers in the area. Or was it though? Yes, probably? But really? There were some stupid theories, like alien abduction.

As the years passed, many looked back at her case occasionally. Twenty years later, in hindsight, it was clear that there were in fact serial killers in her neighborhood.

In fact, one lived next door to her, but he kept silent when asked, which meant he would not be convicted until a scientist finally looked at the car with a microscope and found traces of his semen in the back seat. The serial killer then claimed the sex was consensual.

All along, someone she knew had known something. But she was tied to risky associations with street people and a quarrelsome boyfriend. The rumors had swirled: a hitchhiking mishap, a deliberate abduction, or just bad luck on a dark road. She was still missing because serial killers don't talk unless there is something in it for them.

So investigators searched nearby landfills, vineyards, and wooded areas, even tracking dogs along bus routes, but no body was found. Theories multiplied: some pointed to the car’s condition—flat tires and mud hinting at an off-road disposal—while others saw it as a red herring, the result of weeks of neglect or her own abandonment.

Hitchhiking, a dangerous habit she’d picked up, was another possibility, especially given her recent move and limited means. DNA wasn’t widely used then, and physical evidence was scarce. A Jane Doe found years later—small-statured, with long hair—briefly raised hopes, but the timeline didn’t align.

Decades passed. Alexis Z.’s case grew cold, filed away in the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) or Canada’s Missing database with a case number and a fading photograph. Her family submitted DNA in the 2000s, hoping for a match, but none came.

The bowling alley closed, the serial killer died in prison after mocking authorities, the place where she was last seen became a memorial, and the world simply moved on. Everyone had their own problems, even if they wanted her to be found.

Yet, every so often, a blogger or websleuth would unearth her story, piecing together scraps from old newspapers: "Has Alexis Z. Harper been found?" the Internet searchers often typed in.

As of March 11th, 2025, the answer remains no. Alexis Z.’s story lingers in the shadows, a haunting echo of the thousands lost to time, their fates locked in silence.

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