Candi Gramajo -- Missing Since December 2001 From Oklahoma

Details from NamUs**: 

"GRAMAJO has not been seen since 2am on 12/26/2001 where she went missing from her home on the NW side of OKC. She is believed to be headed to Florida or Virginia."

Missing Person: Candi Gramajo

Last-contact date: December 26th, 2001 at about 2AM
The area where the MP was last seen: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Link to government source: NamUs #78741

VITAL DETAILS

Ethnicity: Hispanic
Sex: Female
Age at time of disappearance: 14 years old

• This person was born between December 27th, 1986, and December 26th, 1987
• When the birthdate isn't known, I calculate a range using the age at the date of the missing person's disappearance.

Hair: Black, shoulder-lengthed
Eyes: Brown
Scar: None listed at NamUs
Height/weight: 5-foot-0 and 95 pounds (maybe taller now given her age)
BMI*: Candi Gramajo was in the normal range for BMI (no way to know what her BMI would be in the years that followed)

• BMI is body mass index. It relates to an individual's height and weight. I include it believing it can help picture a missing person or describe one.

No photo: When a photo isn't found for a missing person, you can try to get an idea of what someone looked like by focusing on BMI, height, weight, ethnicity, and other physical features.

Candi Gramajo has not been seen since December 26th, 2001, when she was 14 years old. Technically, that was Boxing Day, however, it was late Christmas night. This individual has now been missing for 20 years as of the original publication date of this blog post.

If you are working on this case, then one of the early goals should be to get a photo up of this missing person. Ancestry might be a good place to look for one online. If you find one, please remark at the end of this blog post.

What stands out with this case, is that her NamUs profile includes a vehicle description. That is a little odd given that the age of the missing person is 14 years old. I don't picture her having a driver's license. Did she leave alone or with someone that could drive?

The description also says that she was headed to Florida or Virginia. That, in itself, makes it sound like a voluntary disappearance but it would still have been the disappearance of a minor.

The way the profile reads, it's as though she was driving a 1986 Red Honda 2-door car to Florida or Virginia from Oklahoma. That's a little bit difficult to accept as accurate given the age of the missing person so there is probably more to this missing person case than meets the eye. I wouldn't be surprised if the age is wrong or if the details are not correct or not comprehensive.

If she was 14 years old and if she was a runaway, then it creates a stronger possibility that she was alive in the aftermath of her last-known sighting. However, her name did not appear in my searches for Newspaper.com archives or Ancestry. That made it hard to elaborate on the details of her case. Furthermore, an Internet search for "Candi Gramajo" + "missing" did not produce anything. These search results should be duplicated after some time so you, the reader, could take a moment to do that.

Databases are updated from time to time. If looking at Ancestry, then a marriage certificate would be an interesting find for someone with the same name and a birthdate that's likely to be in 1987 but might be in late 1986 given her age when she disappeared. An association to Oklahoma, Florida, or Virginia would also be interesting in a potential marriage certificate. Be aware that if she did end up getting married then her last name may have changed.

If you are looking at the Jane Doe databases, then Candi Gramajo may have had the following articles when she disappeared: tan pants, a red shirt, and a black jacket. Jane Doe profiles often include articles of clothing that the decedent was found in close proximity to.

If you know where this person might be or have any information on this case, then please contact the authorities. In Canada, look for Canada's Missing website with the Federal government. In the USA, you can look for the NamUs profile. Conversely, you can post a remark to this article.

Author: Shane Lambert (UncoolNegated on Websleuths)

All articles are subject to editing after the original posting.

Shane Lambert (UncoolNegated on Websleuths) is not a Private Investigator, however, he is currently studying to be one as of March 2021.

Website hashtag: #MPCSL

*For BMI values, I use the UPPER or HIGHER ranges that are given for height and weight.

**Text might be paraphrased. If taken verbatim, then grammar or spelling errors are not necessarily corrected from original sources.

Disclaimer: Information posted is thought to be correct as of the time posting. If a missing person is found, then this article might stay posted until that is noticed. I try to stay on top of the news but it's not possible to follow all cases. Articles will be edited or deleted when credible news of the missing person is authenticated.

Brenda Kay Lambert -- Missing Since July 2000?

Details from NamUs**: "The victim never arrived at the Christmas dinner six years prior to the date the complainant filed this report."

The hashtag for Missing Persons Commentary.

Missing Person: Brenda Kay Lambert (not to be confused with Brenda Gail Lambert who is missing from Bluewell, West Virginia)

Last-contact date: July 5th, 2000
The area where the MP was last seen: Memphis, Tennessee

Link to government source: NamUs #MP57704

VITAL DETAILS

Ethnicity: White

Sex: Female
Age at time of disappearance: 40 years old
Birthdate: July 6th, 1959 to July 5th, 1960

• When the birthdate isn't known, I calculate a range using the age at the date of the missing person's disappearance.

Hair details: Blond/strawberry
Eye details: Hazel
Scars: None known
Height/weight: 5-foot-3 and 100 pounds
BMI*: In this case, the missing person was underweight by BMI at the time of the disappearance.
BMI is "body mass index." It relates to an individual's height and weight.

• BMI is important, especially when there are no photographs of an individual. It can help someone get an idea of what a person's body might have looked like.

Commentary

Brenda Kay Lambert, a missing person, was seemingly last heard from on July 5th, 2000 when she was 40 years old. However, this is a case where a couple things stand out to me.

Specifically, if you look at the very top of the article and see the NamUs description, it's hard to make perfect sense of all the information that's available: "The victim never arrived at the Christmas dinner six years prior to the date the complainant filed this report."

The quote designates the missing person as a "victim." That designation seems presumptuous without more information. Not all missing people are victims: people have innocent accidents or go missing voluntarily. The NamUs description seems to take "voluntarily missing" out of the picture.

Additionally, the description is a little funny because Brenda Kay Lambert is listed as missing as of July 2000. That is supposed to be when someone conclusively heard from her or saw her. That being the case, what does the information regarding the December-time Christmas dinner pertain to? As everything is written, it sounds like this person was invited to Christmas dinner in July of 2000, she failed to arrive in late December of 2000 and was reported missing six years later. That doesn't really make sense and something really stinks about this missing person profile.

If you don't quite get the picture right now, then I'm with you. Perhaps a good starting point is just to get to the basics and, in this case, that means literally getting a picture. When a missing person, like Brenda Kay Lambert, doesn't have a photo with her profile, researchers can try to find a photo at Ancestry.com or at Newspapers.com. My efforts failed but new documents are added to those websites all the time so please try to find something on her if you have memberships to those sites.

Author: Shane Lambert

All articles are subject to editing after the original posting.

Shane Lambert is not a Private Investigator, however, he is currently studying to be one as of February 2021.

Website hashtag: #MPCSL

*For BMI values, I use the UPPER or HIGHER ranges that are given for height and weight.
**Text might be paraphrased. If taken verbatim, then grammar or spelling errors are not necessarily corrected from original sources.
Disclaimer: Whenever possible, government sources are preferred for getting the details of a missing person. However, any source that the article writer deems potentially reliable may be used.

Sieu Vei Trang -- Missing from Seattle Since 1982

Details from NamUs**: "Sieu was last seen on April 3, 1982."

Missing Person: Sieu Vei Trang
Last-contact date: April 3rd, 1982
The area where the MP was last seen: Seattle, Washington

Link to government source: NamUs #MP7149 
We have no photo: This is an individual who doesn't have a photo attached to her profile.

• When there is no photo, you can try to find one at Ancestry.com or at Newspapers.com; try to find one that's as close to the missing person's date of disappearance as possible.

Ethnicity: Asian
Sex: Female
Age at time of disappearance: 13

Birthdate: May 22nd, 1968
Hair details: Black
Eye details: Brown
Scars: None known
Height/weight: 4-foot-9 and 95 pounds
BMI*: Sieu Vei Trang was in the normal range for BMI.

This is one of those cases where you can't quite figure out why there is not more information on the case. This is a teenaged girl that went missing in 1982. Usually, with a young missing person, there is at least a photo to go on. However, in this case, no one seems to have been able to find one. 

This missing person is in the database for the Washington Association of Sheriffs & Police Chiefs. However, there is not much information on her profile at the time of writing.

Sieu Vei Trang was primarily associated with the area around Seattle, Washington. I looked in the Ancestry database to try and find details of her life that might be relevant to her missing person's status, however, I was not able to find any.

One thing to note with this case is that the individual went missing during puberty. This might be important if she is ever compared to a Jane Doe. Teeth can change rapidly during puberty. Dental records of people in puberty can require greater scrutiny because if the dental records aren't from a time that was close to when the person disappeared, a lot may have changed.

This individual has been missing for almost 40 years at the time of writing. Many of their characteristics could have changed over time. Even if the Sieu is found as a Jane Doe, the Jane Doe's hair color might not be reported as the same as when this individual went missing.

What stands out in this case, is the height. This person was just 4'9" and that will differentiate her from a lot of Jane Does that get found.

Lastly, at the time of her disappearance, Gary Ridgway, a serial killer in America's Pacific Northwest, was active. This is a point that has been by a Websleuth under username Kjowl16. You can follow the Websleuths forum at this link: Sieu's Forum at Websleuths.

Thank you for reading. If have any information about this case, consider contacting the authorities. In conclusion, I think the matter at hand is to find someone who cared about her and ask that person some questions about the case.

Author: Shane Lambert (Facebook profile)

Facebook Group: Missing Person Commentary

Twitter: @UncoolNegated (Twitter)

Pinterest: Missing Person Board
Original Time of Writing: February 21st, 2021

All articles are subject to editing after the original posting.

I am not a Private Investigator, however, I am currently studying to be one as of February 2021.

Website hashtag: #MPCSL

*For BMI values, I use the UPPER or HIGHER ranges.

**Grammar or spelling errors are not necessarily corrected from original sources.

Kay Vernice Deller -- Missing Since February 1998

Missing Person: Kay Vernice Deller

Alias: Kay Bernice Deller
Last-contact date: February 5th, 1998

Area MP was last seen: Las Vegas, Nevada

No photo: You can try to find a photo of this individual at Ancestry.com or at Newspapers.com
Link to government source: #MP21774

Ethnicity: White
Sex: Female
Age at time of disappearance: 37 years old

Birthdate: between February 6th, 1960 and February 5th, 1961
Hair details: Black
Eye details: Brown; wore corrective lenses or glasses
Height/weight: 5-foot-3 and 80 to 85 pounds

Details from NamUs: "Per family, the M/P last lived in Las Vegas. She has not been heard from or seen by family since DLC."

Kay Vernice Deller remains missing as of the time of publication. When Kay disappeared, she was of the Las Vegas, Nevada area.

What stands out with this case, is that the individual had a distinctive scar on her right leg from her upper thigh to her knee. Other details include that she was last heard from via telephone. It may be that this last-contact date was via this telephone call. It would be interesting to know what the details of this conversation were. 

Kay was a diminutive individual at 5'3" and just 80 to 85 pounds. If skeletal remains were found, it's possible that they may be mistaken as a child's or an adolescent's.

Kay Vernice Deller had a strange alias at NamUs. It was "Kay Bernice Deller." Bernice is a more common name than Verdice in my opinion. Websleuths or amateurs working on this case will need to be aware of both middle names. I will note that "B" and "V" are adjacent on standard keyboards and I do wonder if the potential for a keystroking error may be factoring into this.

I did find a same-named individual with links to the Las Vegas area who was born December 15th, 1960. This individual was "Kay V Deller" at Ancestry.com. I couldn't absolutely authenticate them to be the same person, however, the birthdate fits the range for the MP based on her age at the time of her disappearance. Also, the person at Ancestry had a Las Vegas address. It's not clear what exactly this means but anyone working on this case further look into it. 

If this person has been found, then we would want to remove her profile from NamUs so as to make the process of finding missing people more efficient. That said, her NamUs page was looked at recently as I noted a last-modified date from August 24th, 2020 -- meaning someone looked at the age at that time.

Author: Shane Lambert (Facebook profile)

Facebook Group: Missing Person Commentary

Twitter: @UncoolNegated (Twitter)

Pinterest: Missing Person Board
Original Time of Writing: February 20th, 2021

All articles are subject to editing after the original posting.

I am not a Private Investigator, however, I am currently studying to be one as of February 2021.

Website hashtag: #MPCSL

Marion Alice Morton -- Missing Since 1937

Missing Person: Marion Alice Morton
Last-contact date: December 30th, 1937

Birth year: either 1884 or 1883
Disappeared from: Georgetown, Delaware

The logo for Missing Persons Commentary.

Link to Government Source: NamUs #MP5405

Ethnicity: White
Sex: Female
Age at time of disappearance: 53
Hair: Unknown
Eye Color: Unknown
Height/weight at the time of disappearance: 5'0" to 5'6" and 100 to 140 pounds
Details as per NamUs: "Marian Morton was seen and known to be alive by granddaughter on a winter evening in either 1938, 1939 or 1940 at 114 W Market St Georgetown, Delaware."

Maron Alice Morton does not have a profile photo available at NamUs. Those that are working on this case, could direct themselves to looking for one to include with her missing persons profile. Typically, Ancestry Yearbooks are a great place to look. However, in this case the individual went missing when she was 53 years old. Newspapers.com and other sources at Ancestry might serve the researcher better.

This individual would be deceased at the time of writing. If you are working on this case, then be aware that it will be exceedingly difficult with little hope of making any contribution to justice.

There were a couple of same-named individuals that appeared at Ancestry that were both born in 1883. However, I could not authenticate either as being the missing person.

Author: Shane Lambert (Facebook profile)

Facebook Group: Missing Person Commentary

Twitter: @UncoolNegated (Twitter)

Pinterest: Missing Person Board
Original Time of Writing: 

All articles are subject to editing after the original posting.

I am not a Private Investigator, however, I am currently studying to be one as of February 2021.

Website hashtag: #MPCSL

Delveto Guzman (Photo Search) -- Missing Since January 1998

Author: Shane Lambert (Facebook profile)
Original Time of Writing: February 3rd, 2021

Twitter: @UncoolNegated (Twitter)

Pinterest: Missing Person Board

Website hashtag: #MPCSL

Missing person: Delveto Guzman
Last-contact date: January 3rd, 1998
Disappeared from: Fresno, California

Link to Government Source: NamUs #MP77572

Ethnicity/Race: Hispanic/latino
Sex: Male
Age at time of disappearance: 27 years old

Birthdate: between January 4th, 1970 and January 3rd, 1971
Hair: black
Eye color: brown
Height and weight at the time of disappearance: 6'0" and 175 pounds

Goal: The task I have with this profile is to try and get an authenticated photo of this individual. He is among the no-photo contingent at NamUs. As he went missing in 1998, social media will not likely yield one since those websites came around after that year. I think the best way of opening up this case is to find a family member that's willing to be interviewed.

All articles are subject to editing after the original posting.

I am not a Private Investigator, however, I am currently studying to be one as of February 2021.

Elizabeth Camarillo Hernandez (Photo Search) -- Missing Since August 2015

Author: Shane Lambert
Original Time of Writing: January 28th, 2021
All articles are subject to editing after the original posting.

This might be a photo of the missing person.

Missing person: Elizabeth Camarillo Hernandez

Last-contact date: August 1st, 2015

Last-seen date: "Elizabeth Camarillo Hernandez was last seen on August 8, 2015" as per NamUs.
Disappeared from: Laredo, Texas

Link to Government Source: #MP32742

Ethnicity/Race: White, Hispanic, Latino
Sex: Female
Age at time of disappearance: 31 years old

Birthdate: between August 2nd, 1983 and August 1st 1984
Hair: Brown, light brunette
Eye color: Brown
Height and weight at the time of disappearance: 5'0" and 90 to 200 pounds
Commentary: The NamUs description contained the odd phrase: "Weight range estimated to satisfy NamUs minimum requirements." That likely appears to reference the huge weight range that was provided (ie. no one knows what her weight was but they needed something to fill-in the field). 

The first thing I set out to do with this case was find a photo of the missing person, Elizabeth Camarillo Hernandez. I'm not totally sure that I accomplished that but I include a missing person poster below. 

I think NamUs #MP32742 is a Mexican national. There seems to be a missing person effort in both countries for someone named Elizabeth Camarillo Hernandez. Of course, NamUs has their profile but I found a same-named profile at what appears to be a Mexican site that's in Spanish.

I can't speak Spanish but everything seems to match (ie. exact name, age/birthdate). The Mexican poster below seems to say that she was last seen on July 13th, 2015 in Iguala de la Indendenia. NamUs says her last contact was August 1st and her last seen was August 8th. I'm not sure what to make the contradicting dates. If someone who speaks fluent Spanish and English can interpret the poster in the comments than that would be great.

Isolina Lareal (Photo Search) -- Missing Since July 1999

Author: Shane Lambert 
Original Time of Writing: January 27th, 2021
All articles are subject to editing after the original posting.

Missing person: Isolina Lareal or La Real

Alias: Larealcambar (Lareal-cambar?) or Isolina Indira 
Last-contact date: July 30th, 1999
Last-seen location: Broward County, Florida

Link to Government Source: #MP11356

Ethnicity/Race: White
Sex: Female
Age at time of disappearance: 32 years old

Born: May 24th, 1967 as per the DoeNetwork
Hair: Blonde/strawberry
Eye color: Brown
Height and weight at the time of disappearance: 5'4" and 120 pounds
Clothing: Pink jeans, gray sweater, and black ball cap

My first order for Isolina Lareal was to try and get a photo up for her NamUs profile. She went missing in 1999 and for that time frame, it's unusual for someone not to have pictures with her profile. At the end of my research, I was of the opinion that was not a missing person and her inclusion in the NamUs database might not be appropriate.

• I found a marriage record for this person in December 2000
• After researching her spouse and married name, I found what appeared to be evidence of someone (whose age matched) living in Florida

I am not going to publish the addresses and names of relevance. However, my tip to Websleuths and investigators working on this case is to use the aliases provided by NamUs to search at Ancestry and WhitePages. For the time being, this case might not require any work. Please make a comment if you would like an update and I will see your request in the future.

Jennifer M. Dawson (Photo Search - SUCCESSFUL) -- Missing From Florida Since May 1986

Author: Shane Lambert
Original Time of Writing: January 27th, 2021
All articles are subject to editing after the original posting.

The following photos are ones I believe to be of Jennifer M. Dawson, #MP26327 with NamUs. Note that I was unable to authenticate these as being of the missing person; however, I use them in good faith as I do believe they are of the missing person. 

Update: Someone claiming to be the missing person's first cousin has claimed the photos are of Jennifer in the comments section.

I BELIEVE THIS IS THE MOST RECENT PHOTO. SENIOR YEAR. 1970 DUNCAN U FLETCHER HIGH SCHOOL IN THE JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA AREA.

CASE DETAILS

Missing person: Jennifer M. Dawson
Last-contact date: May 12th, 1986 (Monday)
Last-seen location: disappeared from Jacksonville, Florida
Link to Government Source: #MP26327

Ethnicity/Race: White
Sex: Female
Age at time of disappearance: 34 years old
Hair: Brown
Eye color: Blue
Height and weight at the time of disappearance: 4'11" and 110 pounds

Jennifer M. Dawson's BMI at the time of her disappearance, based on a height of 4'11" (59 inches) and weight of 110 pounds, was approximately 22.2, which falls within the healthy weight range (18.5–24.9) according to standard BMI classifications.

Photos Found Since Original Publication

Jennifer M. Dawson was a part of the "No Photo" contingent at NamUs as of the original time of writing in January 2021. Websleuths did find some authenticated photos of Jennifer M. Dawson (#MP26327) after her case was uploaded. But as of March 2025, her NamUs profile is still bare. Furthermore, back in 2021, I felt like I did locate photos of Jenny Dawson; however, I have to consider them unauthenticated. 

STATEMENT ABOUT PHOTOS

When I searched for a photo of Jennifer M. Dawson, firstly, I went to Ancestry.com. Noting that she was 34 years old when she went missing in 1986, I selected the birth year of 1952 with a small range of plus or minus one year. I did find a Jennifer M. Dawson that was of Jacksonville, Florida that was born in February of 1952.

However, I did not take this to mean that they were one and the same person at first. I've come across too many cases where details all seem to align at first, only for them to be different people after a deep dive. 

But that said, Ancestry's Jennifer M. Dawson and #MP26327 had the following in common:

• an affiliation with Jacksonville, Florida
• a birth year of 1952
• a name match, including middle initial
• the range of 1985 to 1992 provided at Ancestry for residency in Jacksonville would include the 1986 last-seen date for the missing person

The following is what I found at Ancestry:

"NAME: Jennifer M Dawson
BIRTH DATE: Feb 1952
RESIDENCE DATE: 1985-1992
ADDRESS: [Address available at Ancestry]
RESIDENCE: Jacksonville, Florida, USA
POSTAL CODE: [available at Ancestry]"

Ancestry Notes: How Do They Calculate Their Addresses?

Note that the "RESIDENCE DATE" above including a residency that extends until 1992 does not mean that she lived there for that time. #MP26327 went missing in 1986 but it could still be Ancestry's Jennifer M. Dawson.

What triggers addresses and residency dates with Ancestry isn't clear to me, but address matches are just food for thought anyway. They must be caused by paperwork as opposed to something physical. I treat Ancestry address recommendations as reflective of where someone's mail went or what they wrote on some kind of official document. This can pertain to the person's whereabouts but it might not.

But when I searched the address that was found at Ancestry, I looked for people of the same last name as Jennifer M. Dawson. I found that these people shared the address and the same last name as Ancestry's Jennifer M. Dawson:

• Laura O Dawson b. 1958
• William B. Dawson b. 1953
• Rebecca Dawson b. 1955

William B. Dawson was born on the exact date of May 16th, 1953 according to Ancestry. Findagrave.com has a William B. Dawson who was born May 16th, 1953 in Jacksonville as deceased as of May 2011. Importantly, this individual had some details included in his online memorial. Those details stated:

"Billy is preceded in death by his wife Cynthia, His Mother Violet, Father William B Dawson III, and Sister Jenny" (bolding added to quote).

William B. Dawson's findagrave.com memorial also stated that he went to Fletcher High School. The school in the Jacksonville area that would match Fletcher High School would be called Duncan U Fletcher High School. I hypothesized that his sister Jenny Dawson also went to that school and put this guess to the test with a manual search of that high school's yearbooks for the years that Jenny would have been in high school (i.e., 1967 to 1970). The photos above are the fruits of that search and I think they are of the missing person.

Although that's not something I have yet authenticated, I do note one corroborating detail between #MP26327 and Ancestry's Jennifer M. Dawson. When you look at the one group photo, Jenny Dawson is the shortest person in the second row. The NamUs profile for her says that she was only 4'11". Thus, additional to an affiliation with Jacksonville, additional to the birth year of 1952, additional to a name match including middle initial, additional to an address range in Jacksonville that includes the year 1986 (the year #MP26327 disappeared in that city), we have very short stature in common as well.

In conclusion, I'm very confident that the pictures from Ancestry and the Fletcher High School Yearbooks are those of the missing person. It would be nice if someone found photos that were taken closer to the date of her disappearance. It would also be nice if someone that knew the missing person as described at NamUs would authenticate these photos (even in the comments).

It would be even nicer, from some points of view, if her likeness matched a composite sketch of a Jane Doe from the Jacksonville area that was thought to have died in and around 1986, a Jane Doe with an estimated height near 4'11". This would produce a lead that might produce more information. That's certainly not to say it would be nice to find that Jenny Dawson is dead, but when it comes to people that have been missing for over 30 years, that's generally to be expected.

Ada R. Pla (Photo Search) -- Missing Since January 1991

Author: Shane Lambert 
Original Time of Writing: January 24th, 2021
All articles are subject to editing after the original posting.

Missing person: Ada R. Pla
Last-contact date: January 24th, 1991
Last-contact location: Miami, Florida

Link to Government Source: #MP12417

Ethnicity/Race: White
Sex: Female
Age at time of disappearance: 57 years old (born between Jan 25 1933 and Jan 24 1934 if age at time of disappearance is right)
Hair: Red
Eye color: Brown
Height and weight at the time of disappearance: 5'1" and 125 pounds

Tattoos: left breast, right breast, upper left arm, and upper right arm
Clothing: none provided

Vehicle: Gray, Florida plates (416BTAV)

Ada R. Pla is part of the no-photo contingent at NamUs. I consider this a contingent of missing people where efforts should be made to find a photo. 

I am of the opinion that for nearly 100% of the missing persons where no photo is included it is likely due to apathy. But given both the effort and resources that are put into developing composite sketches of Jane/John Does, it doesn't make sense to me not to include photos of missing people in their profiles.

How can the sketches of the unidentified dead be compared to missing people without corresponding photos of the missing people? Thus, my initial efforts in Ada Pla's case were simply to find a photo of her -- and that wasn't easy. I've had no success at this point.

Aaliyah Joy Mason (Photo Search) -- Missing Since January 2020

Author: Shane Lambert 
Original Time of Writing: January 23rd, 2021
All articles are subject to editing after the original posting.

Missing person: Aaliyah Joy Mason
Last-contact date: January 24th, 2020 (disputed_
Last-seen location: North Hollywood, California

Link to Government Source: NamUs #MP64699

Ethnicity/Race: Black/African American
Sex: Female
Age at time of disappearance: 14 years old
Hair: Black
Eye color: Brown
Height and weight at the time of disappearance: 5'6" to 5'7" and 165 pounds

The NamUs description for this missing person sounds like she is being treated as a runaway: "Aaliyah was last seen on January 24, 2020 at home in North Hollywood, California. She left the home and has not returned."

My research into this case produced a suggestion that this individual may have been found. Websleuths or amateur investigators should be careful in putting too much time into this case until this is clarified. I will query the status of this case with NamUs staff and update accordingly. However, for the time being I did find a photo for this alleged MP.

Yes she was found. Tragic story, but she's healing.

— Deana J Becker (@BeckerDeana) January 28, 2021

PLEASE share this photo far and wide. This is Aaliyah Mason. She has been missing from a park in Studio City, CA for over 24 hours. Her mother is a dear friend and #CSUN family. If seen please call 911 and the number on the flier. #missingchild pic.twitter.com/gWpeZcNM9o

— Deana J Becker (@BeckerDeana) January 26, 2020

Pamela Mae Buckley's Missing Photo at NamUs Delayed Match

Author: Shane Lambert

The day of identification finally arrived for the Sumter County Does. They are James Paul Freund and Pamela Mae Buckley.

In a previous blog post, I showed that the identification of James Paul Freund could have been made years ago. The Sumter County John Doe, which was ultimately identified as James Paul Freund, bore a ring with the initials JPF. If James Paul Freund had an online profile with NamUs, for example, I'm sure someone would have looked at the John Doe, noticed the initials matching James Paul Freund's, and noticed that the dates made sense. This would have gotten the ball rolling, I think, into simultaneously solving both the mystery of the Sumter County John Doe and the missing person case of James Paul Freund.

I further submit that the Sumter County John Doe could have been identified in a much more difficult manner -- even without an online profile. I think the initials were all that were needed to produce a lead in this case. This is a topic I wrote about at Websleuths under my handle "UncoolNegated." 

There is a searching technique that can be used in some databases where question marks can be substituted for unknown letters. For example, if you know someone's name starts with a "J" then you can search for "J????" to find all names that start with J that are five letters in length.

The Sumter County John Doe was thought to have JPF as initials. If someone had searched for "J?????" and "P." and "F??????" in conjunction with "Legal Notices" and "presumed decedent" then it would have produced several thousand hits at newspapers.com. The latter terms are ones that commonly appear in classified ads having to do with the estate settlements of missing people who are assumed to be dead. These kinds of classified ads certainly should be studied by those who work on missing person cases because John Does and Jane Does have their names in these kinds of legal notices for sure.

Admittedly, there is hindsight bias in picking a name of five letters for the first name and a name of six letters for the last name. However, James Paul Freund's legal notice regarding his death in absentia was included in the thousands of hits that came up at newspaper.com when I tested my method out. It would have been tons of work to sort through the thousands of hits, keeping in mind that the name-length combinations would have been large. However, the Sumter County John Doe was identifiable through newspaper archive searches even though only his initials were known.

Sumter County Does Fri, Apr 22, 1988 – 38 · Intelligencer Journal (Lancaster, Pennsylvania) · Newspapers.com

Finding James P. Freund this way, I think, might have taken a volunteer who was organized about 40-60 hours of work with luck being a factor in finding a hit quickly. In the case of Pamela Mae Buckley, there was a much simpler method: she simply needed a photo included in her online profiles for her missing person case. 

Let's think about that.

Pamela Mae Buckley is the proper name of the Sumter County Jane Doe. Furthermore, the Sumter County Jane Doe was no ordinary Jane Doe.

This Jane Doe was someone who attracted scores of attention from journalists, unsolved mystery enthusiasts, composite sketchers, hobbyists who work on missing person cases, her coroner, and law enforcement. The Sumter County Jane Doe had many artistic renderings of her likeness produced. Lo-and-behold, these renderings looked like Pamela Mae Buckley.

According to a post at Websleuths by username Gardener1850, Pamela Mae Buckley had her missing person case profiled at NamUs where she was #MP62300. I think that she was added sometime in 2019. The post at Websleuths commented that there was no photo included with the profile. I couldn't verify this because once an identification is made the profile is deleted from NamUs, however, I do generally trust Websleuths on such matters.

If there had been a photo included, I am absolutely certain that someone would have drawn a comparison between one of the artistic renditions of the Jane Doe (or the Jane Doe's postmortem photos) and Pamela Mae Buckley's likeness. I further submit that this likeness would have produced leads because the dates would have been intriguing: Buckley was last seen in the months that preceded the discovery of the Sumter County Jane Doe. I'm sure it all that would have ultimately produced an identity match quicker than the one that came about. 

Furthermore, it would have saved loads of labor.

In the real world, Buckley was identified after her DNA was matched to her place in her family tree. That required a lucky break -- a living relative uploaded their DNA to 23andme. In this process of identification, the closer the living relative is in the family tree, the quicker the match. My understanding is that it takes an educated group of people who know what they are doing a good while to make such matches in some cases and the effort can be painstaking. It is worth the effort but it's a shame when it has to be done to make up for laziness.

Here's a better idea: when a missing person has their profile added to NamUs, someone gets a photo. If there isn't one readily available then make the photo "pending" and someone needs to make the effort to get one whenever possible. I'm willing to practice what I preach as I'll be using the tag "Photo Search" at this site for Jane Does and John Does with no photo.

The solved case of Pamela Mae Buckley actually reminds me of a scene from Naked Gun, starring Leslie Nielsen. A police lab professor has a wild plan for identifying someone, a plan that just might work. When Nielsen, in character as Frank Drebbin, says the plan is too tenuous, the professor instead produces the subject's wallet.

So, instead of identifying Jane Does using DNA and huge family trees with trained staff laboring away, let's first look at the obvious. Jane Does have composite sketches and those sketches can be matched to photos of missing people sometimes. The trick is that it requires some minor effort to locate a photo of the missing person but I think the effort should be made. 

Anyone who suggests that it shouldn't need to weigh all of the following against the effort of locating a photo: 

• the effort that's put into producing composite sketches
• the effort that goes into amateur investigation by volunteers
• and the effort that a team of trained investigators puts into combing through a Jane Doe's extended family. 

The total volume of this effort wasn't necessary in the Sumter County Jane Doe: Pamela Mae Buckley could have been suggested as the Sumter County Jane Doe from a photo alone and the DNA match could have been made. The amount of effort that was spent on this match could have been much smaller or spent on the many other worthwhile Does that are out there.