May 24, 2013
Iowa Child Abductions Probed
An Iowa police chief says a dozen investigators are looking into whether the suspect in Monday's kidnapping of two girls is connected to last year's slaying of two cousins who vanished 90 miles away. Authorities believe Michael Klunder kidnapped 15-year-old Kathlynn Shepard and her 12-year-old friend as they walked home from school. The 12-year-old was able to escape, but Kathynn is still missing. Evansdale Police Chief Kent Smock said Thursday that investigators are now scrutinizing Klunder in connection with the deaths of Lyric Cook and Elizabeth Collins because of similarities in the cases. Read more...
May 22, 2013
Abduction Suspect Commits Suicide
Authorities say a man suspected of abducting two girls near an Iowa bus stop had committed suicide. Forty-two-year-old Michael Klunder was found dead at a rural property northeast of Dayton. Dozens of federal, state and local law enforcement are searching by air, land and water for 15-year-old Kathlynn Shepard. She and a 12-year-old girl were taken near a bus stop in Dayton, about 60 miles north of Des Moines, on Monday afternoon after accepting a ride from a stranger. The younger girl was able to escape. Read more...
May 15, 2013
Gacy Case Turns Up Missing Person
A DNA test used by investigators to identify victims of serial killer John Wayne Gacy has helped solve a 41-year-old New Jersey missing persons case, officials announced. Sixteen-year-old Steven Soden went missing on April 3, 1972, but his remains were not identified until 2012, when authorities matched them with a DNA sample from his sister. Read more...
May 14, 2013
Search for Missing NOLA Teacher Continues
The search for missing Harvey school teacher Terrilyn Monette continued on Sunday after authorities were forced off Bayou St. John on Friday and Saturday due to thunderstorms, reported Nola.com. While the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries has drudged up 17 cars from the waterway, none of them are the black Honda Accord that belonged to Monette, said the website. Read more...
May 10, 2013
Heeringa's Blood Found Outside Station
Police say a small amount of blood that was found outside of a western Michigan gas station has been identified as belonging to a young mother who vanished from her job as a night clerk there last month. Norton Shore police Chief Daniel Shaw said in a statement that investigators found "a small amount of blood" at a location "outside of the Exxon Mobil station," and a DNA test confirmed it belonged to 25-year-old Jessica Heeringa. Read more...
Baby Missing After Mom and 2 Others Slain
Authorities are searching for a baby girl who hasn't been seen for more than a week and whose mother was found slain with two men on a Kansas farm. The bodies of Kaylie Bailey, 21, Andrew Stout, 30, and Steven White, 31, were discovered at the farm in Ottawa, eastern Kansas. The Franklin County Sheriff's Department said in an emailed statement that the three victims were identified following a forensic examination. Read more...
May 08, 2013
Women Escape Captors After 10 Years
Investigators are trying to determine how three kidnapped women managed to go undetected for a decade in a densely populated residential Cleveland neighborhood. The three managed to escape their ordeal when one of them, with the help of neighbors who heard her screams, managed to kick her way through the front door of 2207 Seymour Avenue. Amanda Berry, who vanished in 2003, pulled herself and a six-year-old girl through the door, then called 9-1-1 to get police to rescue Michelle Knight and Gina DeJesus. Read more...
May 07, 2013
3 Missing Women Found in Cleveland
Three women who went missing about a decade ago were found alive Monday in a residential area just south of downtown, and a man was arrested. Cheering crowds gathered Monday night on the street near the home where police said Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michele Knight were found earlier in the day. Police didn't immediately provide any details of how the women were found but said they appeared to be in good health. Read more...
May 06, 2013
Park Searched for Jessica Heeringa
A 2,700-acre state park about four miles from where a young Michigan mother was abducted from her job at a gas station has been searched by Norton Shores police. A report of gunfire in the area and the discovery of sun glasses that looked like Jessica Heeringa's prompted the air and ground search. Norton Shores Police Chief Daniel Shaw said the search turned up no new clues. Read more...
$400 Found in Heeringa's Wallet
Authorities investigating the disappearance of a Michigan mother who worked the night shift at a gas station say they found $400 in her wallet and the store's register was untouched. Jessica Heeringa, 25, disappeared April 26 while working the late-night shift at an Exxon Mobile gas station in Norton Shores, in the western part of the state. Her purse and car were left behind, and authorities are investigating the case as an abduction. Read more...
Missing Mom 'Far From Homeless'
The tale of Brenda Heist, the Pennsylvania mother who abandoned her two children only to turn up in Florida 11 years later, has taken another unlikely turn. Heist may not have spent most of those 11 years homeless, as she told police last week when she turned herself in, saying she'd abandoned her family because of stress. Sondra Forrester says she knew Heist in 2010. At that time, Heist cleaned her Florida home and went by the name Lovey Smith. Read more...
May 02, 2013
Mom Who Vanished in 2002 Found
A central Pennsylvania woman who mysteriously disappeared after dropping off her children for school 11 years ago has surfaced in Florida and has told police she traveled there on a whim with homeless hitchhikers, slept under bridges and survived by scavenging food and panhandling, authorities said. Brenda Heist, 53, had been declared legally dead, Lititz Borough Police Det. John Schofield said. The detective said he met with her in Florida and she expressed shame and apologized for what she did to her family. Read more...
May 01, 2013
Police Release Sketch in Heeringa Case
Police in Norton Shores, Michigan have released a sketch of a suspect in the disappearance of a 25-year-old gas station clerk who vanished last week. The sketch was produced with the help of a witness who saw the man driving the vehicle that may have been used to abduct Jessica Heeringa as she was closing the Exxon station last Friday. Read more...
Authorities Search for Silver SUV
Authorities in Michigan released a surveillance video they say shows a silver SUV that may be connected to a missing mother who worked the late-night shift at an ExxonMobile gas station. Jessica Heeringa, 25, disappeared Friday night around 11:15 p.m. at the ExxonMobil station where she worked in Norton Shores, near Muskegon. Her purse and car were left behind, and police were notified after a customer called 911 and said no employees were at the station, Fox 17 reports. There were no security cameras operating at the time of her disappearance, Norton Shores police say, and authorities are investigating the case as an abduction. Read more...
April 29, 2013
Mom Vanishes During Late Shift
Michigan police are classifying the disappearance of a young mother from her job as a late-shift gas station clerk an abduction. Jessica Heeringa, a 25-year-old mother, vanished from the Exxon station in Norton Shores as she was closing for the night on Friday. Police are searching for a white male around 30 years old, 6-foot tall, driving a silver Chrysler Towne & Country minivan. Read more...
April 27, 2013
Remains ID'd as 13-Year-Old Hailey Dunn
The remains of a 13-year-old Texas cheerleader Hailey Dunn have been found more than two years after she was reported missing. An unidentified person contacted authorities after finding the remains near Lake J.B. Thomas in Scurry County on March 16, more than two years after Dunn's mother reported her daughter missing. The girl's disappearance and the cause of her death remain under investigation, Scurry County Sheriff Trey Wilson said at a news conference Friday. The Scurry County District Attorney's Office received written confirmation of the identity of the remains on Friday, he said. Read more...
April 26, 2013
Remains Found Not Lauren Spierer
Remains found in a remote area in Indiana, which some initially suspected may be those of missing college student Lauren Spierer, have been identified as belonging to another woman who vanished a year earlier. Brown County Chief Deputy Coroner Earl Piper said that the remains discovered belong to 26-year-old Kate McGrayel, who was reported missing in April 2010. The remains were found on private property by two women looking for mushrooms. Piper said the identification was made through dental records. No cause of death has been released. Read more...
April 20, 2013
Found Purse Was Not Bobo's
Tennessee investigators and the mother of a nursing student missing for two years say a purse found this week is not that of Holly Bobo. Tennessee Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Kristin Helm said that Bobo's mother had seen just a photo of the purse two days ago and thought it was her daughter's. But after seeing it in person Friday, Karen Bobo said it wasn't. Neighborhood dogs had found the purse in the hills in west Tennessee on Wednesday, prompting a search for other clues. But nothing was found. Read more...
April 19, 2013
Purse Find Sparks New Bobo Search
A new search is under way for missing nursing student Holly Bobo after a dog found what appears to be the woman's purse not far from her rural Tennessee home, a law enforcement official said. Bobo, a nursing student at the University of Tennessee at Martin, was last seen two years ago by her 25-year-old brother, Clint, who reported seeing her being taken into the woods by an unidentified man dressed in camouflage. Read more...
April 09, 2013
Kidnapped Florida Boys in Cuba?
Officials believe a Florida couple suspected of kidnapping their two sons from the woman's parents are in Cuba. The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office reports that it received information Monday that the Hakken family had arrived on the island nation. Investigators say they're working with the FBI and the U.S. State Department to verify their reports. Read more...
April 08, 2013
Pickup Found in Florida Double Kidnapping
An abandoned pickup truck police say may have been used by an "anti-government" man to kidnap his two young sons from their grandmother's house has been found in Florida. Hakken put the boys, still in their pajamas, into their grandmother's 2009 silver Toyota Camry and drove off, police believe. They think he traded cars a few blocks away for a black Sierra pickup matching the description of the one found. Read more...
April 03, 2013
Car Towed With Body Inside
The body of a missing North Carolina woman was found inside her wrecked car, three days after it was ordered by a state trooper to be towed away from the crash scene. Carolyn Ann Watkins, 62, of Clayton was reported missing by her son early Monday after she failed to show up at work. An accident report filed Friday by N.C. Highway Patrol Trooper Marlon Williams shows her crashed 2000 Pontiac was found Friday morning in a deep ditch near Smithfield, about 30 miles southeast of Raleigh. Both air bags deployed. "Note: No driver at the scene of this collision," Williams wrote in his report. Read more...
March 25, 2013
Reward Offered for Kelli Bordeaux
Almost a year after an attractive 23-year-old soldier disappeared from a bar near Fort Bragg, authorities are hoping to generate some clues in the case by offering a $25,000 reward. PFC Kelli Bordeaux disappeared April 14, 2012 after an evening singing karaoke and drinking with friends at the Froggy Bottom bar in Fayetteville. Bordeaux was a combat medic with the Army 44th Medical Brigade. Read more...
March 12, 2013
Teacher Missing for More Than a Week
Police in New Orleans are searching for a young teacher who disappeared more than a week ago after a night of drinking to celebrate being nominated for an award. Terrilynn Monnette, 26, was last seen in the wee hours of March 2, after spending the previous evening with friends at a bar in the city's Lakeview section. Witnesses said she left with a male acquaintance around 4 a.m. on Saturday. She has not been seen since. Read more...
March 06, 2013
Group Hires Detective for Missing Models
With fears of foul play growing in the cases of three Colorado women who had profiles on small-time modeling websites before they disappeared, an advocacy group for women is launching its own investigation to see if they are connected or possibly even part of a bigger, nationwide case. The National Women's Coalition Against Violence and Exploitation has hired a private investigator who plans to look into the possibility of a connection between the disappearances of Raven Furlong, 17, and Kara Nichols, 19, who both had profiles on ModelMayhem.com, and Kelsie Schelling, who has a modeling profile on the site Explore Talent. Read more...
March 04, 2013
3 Missing Women Linke to Modeling Profiles
Three young women who disappeared in Colorado reportedly all had profiles on modeling social networking sites. The National Women's Coalition Against Violence & Exploitation says Kara Nichols and Raven Furlong both had profiles on ModelMayhem.com. The group says the site is a common link in several cases of missing girls. "We're up to 13 or 14 cases that we're familiar with," the organization's co-founder, Michelle Bart, told Fox 31. Read more...
January 28, 2013
No Sign of Missing Family
Next week marks the third anniversary of the disappearance of Joseph McStay, 43; his wife, Summer, 46; and their two young children, Gianni, 7, and Joseph Mateo, who would be 6 this month. February 4, 2010 was the last day anyone saw the family or heard from them. When police entered their Southern California house more than 10 days later, they found eggs on the kitchen counter and bowls of popcorn in the living room. Their two dogs were also in the home. But not a single trace of the McStays. Read more...
January 25, 2013
Police Search for Missing 16-Year-Old
Colorado authorities are searching for a missing 16-year-old girl who reportedly sent a distress message to friends saying she was with a man and "scared." Jessica Shepherd, of Johnstown, Colo., was last heard from at around 10:50 p.m. on Tuesday, Fox affiliate KDVR reported. Witnesses told investigators that the teen sent messages from her cellphone and Facebook account at that time, saying she was "with a guy named Dave" and "scared." Read more...
January 21, 2013
Teen Missing After Video of Fight Posted
Police in California are searching for a 14-year-old girl who vanished after being involved in a brutal fight at her high school that was captured on cell phone video and posted on Facebook. Baileigh Karam has not been seen or heard from by her mother since January 11, the day of the fight. In the video, a group of students can be seen surrounding two girls, recording the brawl on cell phone cameras, but nobody steps in to help or stop the punches. Read more...
January 16, 2013
Screams Lead to Missing 5-Year-Old Girl
Missing 5-year-old Nailla Robinson, the girl who was snatched from a Cobbs Creek, Pa., school Monday, was found safe in Delaware County overnight. Robinson was found on a playground on 69th Street by a passerby, wearing only a T-shirt, according to Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood. "This morning around 4:40 [a.m.] a fellow on his way to work heard screams for help, he was walking, he goes over to a playground area and finds a little girl hiding underneath the jungle gym," Chitwood told NBC10's Tim Furlong. Read more...
January 14, 2013
Human Remains Found in Boy's Backyard
Investigators found human remains Friday in the former backyard of a South Florida couple whose baby hasn't been seen in more than a year. Calvin Melvin and Britney Sierra were arrested Friday on neglect charges after a child-welfare worker acting on a tip from an abuse hotline went to their new home and found only two of their three known children. Read more...
January 11, 2013
Boy Abducted in 1994 Found
A boy abducted 19 years ago in northeastern Indiana by his paternal grandparents has been found living in Minnesota under a different name, police said. Richard Wayne Landers Jr. was 5 years old when he and his grandparents, who were upset over custody arrangements, disappeared from the town of Wolcottville. Indiana State Police said the now 24-year-old Landers was found in Long Prairie, Minnesota, thanks in part to his Social Security identification number. Read more...
December 31, 2012
Body of Missing Girl Found
Authorities identified a body found in an undeveloped housing tract in North Las Vegas as Jade Morris, 10, who was last seen Dec. 21 with a suspect in a casino slashing case. The girl died of multiple stab wounds, officials from the Clark County coroner's office said. Jade's family say they last saw her about 5 p.m. on Dec. 21 with Brenda Stokes, who had picked her up to go Christmas shopping. Family members say the girl had a close relationship with Stokes, who used to date her father. Read more...
December 14, 2012
Kayla Campbell's Body Found in Pond
The body of a 16-year-old North Carolina girl who was last seen on Sunday was found just after midnight on Thursday in a pond near where she disappeared. Kayla Campbell's body was reportedly turned over to the Mecklen County Coroner's Office to determine the cause of death. Campbell of Mint Hill, N.C., which is Southeast of Charlotte, was reported missing by her father around 6 p.m. on Sunday when she failed to return home. Read more...
December 12, 2012
FBI Joins Search for Kayla Campbell
The FBI has joined the search for a missing 16-year-old North Carolina teen who has not been seen since leaving her home to go for a bike ride on Sunday. Kayla Campbell's father reported her missing after she answered her cell phone and said she was five minutes away from her Mint Hill home, but never showed up. Searchers found her cell phone, backpack, shoes and bicycle in a wooded area near her home on Monday. Read more...
December 06, 2012
Bodies of Missing Iowa Girls Found
Hunters found two bodies in a wooded area that are believed to be two young Iowa cousins who disappeared five months ago while riding their bicycles near a recreational lake in Evansdale. Elizabeth Collins and Lyric Cook were last seen leaving their grandmother's house on July 13. Read more...
November 20, 2012
Police Seek Info About Missing Teen
Alabama police have intensified their search for a 17-year-old teen who hasn't been seen since October 24. The Prattville Police Department has asked for the public's help to find Cassidy Hope Taylor, who was last seen at an apartment complex in Prattville. Read more...
October 23, 2012
$10,000 Reward Offered for Missing Girl
Authorities say a $10,000 reward is being offered for anyone who can help find a 12-year-old girl missing from southern New Jersey. Autumn Pasquale, who will turn 13 next week, was last seen at 12:30 p.m. Saturday and authorities said at a news conference on Monday that she was last heard from in a text message from her phone about two hours later. Authorities say she was seen riding her bike away from her home in Clayton and was expected back that evening. Read more...
October 18, 2012
Woman's Disappearance Suspicious, Police Say
Authorities called the disappearance of an Oregon Starbucks employee suspicious after her car was found abandoned a few miles from her home. Whitney Heichel, 21, was scheduled to work a 7 a.m. shift Tuesday at the East Gresham coffee shop, which is a five-minute drive from her apartment she shares with her husband, the report said. She left the house at 6:45 a.m. She never arrived at the store. Read more...
October 12, 2012
Colorado Body Found Is 'Not Intact'
A body found in Arvada, Colo., during the search for missing schoolgirl Jessica Ridgeway is "not intact," delaying the official identification of the remains, police said. Westminster Police spokesman Trevor Materasso said police have not tied the discovery of the body to the search for the missing girl, however, they hope to have a positive ID on the body by Friday. The body was removed from Pattridge Park in Arvada -- an area dotted with abandoned coal mines about five miles southwest of Westminster. Read more...
October 09, 2012
Search for Missing Colorado Girl Expanded
The likely discovery of Jessica Ridgeway's backpack and water bottle – the biggest lead yet in the search for the missing 10-year-old – is fueling hope for her recovery, police say. The backpack was discovered Sunday outside the home of a man in the Rock Creek subdivision in Superior, Colo., about 6 1/2 miles northwest of Jessica's home, Westminster Police Investigator Trevor Materasso said. The man sent an email through a community listserv calling attention to the backpack, Materasso said. Other residents alerted him that it might be related to the case, and told him to call police. Read more...
October 08, 2012
Dozens Search for Missing Colorado Girl
Dozens of police, firefighters and volunteers were searching a neighborhood in Westminster, Colo., after a 10-year-old girl vanished Friday morning on her way to school. Jessica Ridgeway was last seen by her mother as she took her normal three-block walk to a park to meet a friend on their way to school. Read more...
September 27, 2012
Police to Search for Jimmy Hoffa Under Driveway
Police will be taking soil core samples at a home in Roseville in search of the remains of missing Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa, whose 1975 disappearance sparked one of the 20th century's biggest mysteries. "We received information from an individual who saw something," Roseville Police Chief James Berlin told the Free Press. "The information seemed credible, so we decided to follow up on it." Berlin wouldn't say who provided the tip — one of hundreds authorities have pursued in the years since Hoffa vanished from a restaurant parking lot in Oakland County. Read more...
September 25, 2012
Police Search for Missing Florida Student
Nearly 100 people, including police, volunteers and family members were searching Monday for a University of Florida student who went missing four days ago in Gainesville. Police fear Christian Aguilar could be seriously injured, disoriented and unable to seek medical attention. Aguilar, 18, went missing last week after an altercation over a girl, his father told reporters. Read more...
Aliayah's Family Wants Answers
Her mother is in prison for welfare fraud. Her stepfather is lying low. Her six siblings, some just infants, are in the custody of child welfare authorities. And Aliayah Lunsford, the brown-eyed 3-year-old who vanished from her West Virginia home a year ago Monday, is still missing. "It just seems like everybody's forgotten her," said Aliayah's great-aunt Vickie Bowen, "but we're never going to forget." In the year since Aliayah disappeared from her family's rented house in the Bendale section of Lewis County, Bowen has concluded the girl is probably dead, though she avoids using the word. Read more...
August 30, 2012
Search Continues for Missing SC Women
Authorities plan to resume searching the Francis Marion Forest near Charleston for more evidence in the disappearance of two women. Authorities say the car in which two Berkeley County women were last seen was found burned in the forest and a woman's body was found nearby. An autopsy is planned to determine the identity. Berkeley County sheriff's spokesman Dan Moon says the car in which 18-year-old Dana Woods and 22-year-old June Guerry were last seen was found near Cordesville. Read more...
August 29, 2012
Arrest Made in Missing Teen Case
A 52-year-old acquaintance who did yard work for the family has been charged with kidnapping in the case of a missing 15-year-old South Carolina teen. Freddie Grant has been arrested in connection with the disappearance of Gabrielle "Gabbiee" Swainson who has been missing since Saturday. Read more...
August 28, 2012
FBI Joins Search for 15-Year-Old SC Girl
Authorities are offering a $6,000 reward for information leading to a 15-year-old Columbia girl who has been missing for a week. Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott says a person who wanted to remain anonymous donated $2,500 to the reward fund and his department matched it, along with $1,000 from Crimestoppers. Read more...
July 24, 2012
FBI: Missing Iowa Girls Believed to Be Alive
Investigators said they have evidence that leads them to believe two cousins who vanished last week are still alive. FBI spokeswoman Sandy Breault said that authorities strongly believe 10-year-old Lyric Cook-Morrissey and 8-year-old Elizabeth Collins have not been killed. She refused to say what led authorities to that conclusion, but told reporters that investigators are expanding their search beyond Iowa. Read more...
July 19, 2012
Search for Missing Iowa Cousins Yields No Clues
The families of two missing Iowa cousins say their worry that the young girls might have been abducted is growing as a search of nearby lake winds down. Authorities drained the lake Tuesday after FBI dogs detected the girls' scent near where their bicycles were found four days earlier. They said once Meyers Lake is drained, they can focus their attention elsewhere. Read more...
July 17, 2012
Spierer Family Awaits Skull ID
Investigators and family members of a Indiana University student missing since June 2011 are anxiously awaiting the forensic examination of a human skull found by a fisherman in the White River in Indianapolis. The skull was found under the Raymond Street Bridge about 60 miles from where 20-year-old Lauren Spierer was last seen. Identification of the skull could take several weeks, Marion County Deputy Coroner Alfarena Ballew said. Read more...
July 11, 2012
Search Under Way for Missing Ohio Mother
Authorities in two states are searching for an Ohio mother last seen vacationing with her children in North Carolina's Outer Banks, while police hunt the woman's ex-boyfriend who is a "person of interest" in the case. Lynn Jackenheimer, 33, of Ashland, Ohio, was last seen a week ago on Hatteras Island with her two children, ages 3 and 13, and her former boyfriend. Police say the boyfriend, 27-year-old Nathan Summerfield, returned the children to Ohio before fleeing in a 2009 dark metallic gray Honda Civic with Ohio license plate FMV 7540. Read more...
June 30, 2012
Reward Offer to End With Maine Tot Still Missing
The offer of a $30,000 reward for information leading to missing Maine toddler Ayla Reynolds is about to end, and police say it appears the money will go unclaimed. Ayla was reported missing from her Waterville home on Dec. 17. State police spokesman Steve McCausland says that since then, investigators have received 1,200 leads, including many from psychics. Read more...
June 02, 2012
Parents: Unlikely Lauren Spierer Is Alive
Almost exactly a year after college student Lauren Spierer disappeared after a night out with friends in Bloomington, Ind., police say her case is still active. Her mother, Charlene Spierer, said Friday that she always has hope her daughter is alive but "after a year, I don't think it's likely." Lauren's father, Robert Spierer, told TODAY's Savannah Guthrie: "You have to be realistic ... you always have that small element of hope, but of course, as time goes by, you become more and more realistic about the possibility of her being alive." Read more...
June 01, 2012
Police: Unlikely Ayla Renolds Is Alive
Law enforcement officials said for the first time that they believe a toddler who disappeared in the days leading up to Christmas is no longer alive. Officials pressing for more information about Ayla Reynolds' whereabouts also announced at the news conference that a $30,000 reward for information on the case will expire June 30. Steve McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety, said investigators remain determined to solve the mystery of Ayla's disappearance. Read more...
May 30, 2012
Missing Student Not Tied to Any Other Case
The disappearance of a Louisiana college student Michaela "Mickey" Shunick is not related to a similar case in Indiana or any others, Lafayette police said at a news conference where they unveiled new evidence. Shunick disappeared May 19. Her bicycle was found Sunday under water and with a damaged rear tire in Atchafalaya Basin, Cpl. Paul Mouton revealed State crime lab investigators are going over the bicycle for evidence but police believe a perpetrator who took Shunick climbed down an Interstate 10 bridge embankment and dumped it in the basin, Mouton said. Read more...
May 29, 2012
Bicycle of Missing Louisiana College Student Found
Police have confirmed that an abandoned bicycle found under a highway bridge belongs to missing college student Mickey Shunick. Two fisherman reportedly spotted the bicycle in a remote, swampy area in Iberville Parish, about 25 miles from where Shunick was last seen on May 19. Several police agencies are now searching the area for clues and have dispatched search dogs under the bridge. Read more...
May 16, 2012
Arizona Girl, 6, Was Abducted, Police Say
Tucson police are saying for the first time that a 6-year-old girl who vanished from her home last month was abducted. Investigators had previously characterized Isabel Mercedes Celis' disappearance as a "suspicious disappearance/possible abduction." Police spokeswoman Maria Hawke says it was an abduction after investigators determined the girl didn't leave her home alone and after they reviewed the evidence. She declined to comment further. Read more...
May 14, 2012
Rescued Girl: 'Now We Can Go Home'
Days of grueling searches for two young girls and the kidnapper who killed their mother and sister led to the kind of terrain that favors the hunted — high hardwoods and deep ravines near a red-brick church perched on a hill. Specially trained officers had come up empty-handed for days but were following another lead after Adam Mayes was put on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted List. Dozens of tips turned up nothing. This latest lead officers to the woods near Zion Hill Baptist Church, just a couple of miles from Mayes' rented mobile home in Guntown, where 31-year-old Jo Ann Bain and her 14-year-old daughter, Adrienne, had been buried in a shallow grave. Read more...
May 10, 2012
Car Examined in Sierra LaMar Case
Forensic investigators are examining a vehicle they believed is linked to the disappearance of a 15-year-old California girl missing since March 16. Police had been searching for a red Volkswagen Jetta seen in video surveillance tapes during their investigation of the disappearance of Sierra LaMar. Police would not say when and where they found the vehicle. Read more...
May 08, 2012
Manhunt Launched for Adam Mayes
A massive manhunt is being conducted for a Mississippi man suspected in the abduction of a Tennessee woman and her three daughters after the bodies of the mother and her oldest daughter were found behind the kidnapper's home. Police are on the look out for Adam Mayes of Guntown, Mississippi. Still missing are Gary Bain's daughters Alexandria Bain, 12, and Kyliyah Bain, 8. Read more...
Bodies Identified as Missing Mother, Daughter
A Tennesse medical examiner identified two bodies as those of Jo Ann Bain and her eldest daughter, Adrienne, 14, who are believed to have been abducted from their home in Whiteville, Tenn. on April 27. Alexandria Bain, 12, and Kyliyah Bain, 8, are believed to still be with the man police have identified as the kidnapper, Adam Mayes. The two younger girls are believed to still be with Mayes. Jo Ann and Adrienne Bain's bodies were found behind Mayes' home near Guntown, Miss. Read more...
Police Seek Vehicle in Connection With Sierra LaMar
Authorities probing the disappearance of a 15-year-old California girl said Monday they're looking for a vehicle they believe is connected to the teenager's abduction. The Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office released a photo of a 1990s red Volkswagen Jetta that's similar to a car linked to the kidnapping of Sierra LaMar, who has been missing for nearly two months. Investigators said they believe the girl was snatched early March 16 while walking to a bus stop near her home in Morgan Hill, Calif. Read more...
May 04, 2012
Killer Linked to Lauren Spierer Case?
It may be a long shot, but investigators are looking into the possible link between a Indiana man accused of killing three women and the case of a missing 20-year-old University of Indiana college student. Convicted sex offender William Clyde Gibson is accused of three murders in New Albany, about 100 miles from when Lauren Spierer disappeared in Bloomington. Read more...
Tucson Girl's Parents Say They're 'Desperate'
Becky and Sergio Celis spoke out publicly for the first time about the disappearance of their daughter Isabel, who was kidnapped from her bedroom in the middle of the night nearly two weeks ago. When Sergio last saw the 6-year-old, he told TODAY's Ann Curry, it was just before she went to bed. She had a baseball game early the next morning, April 21, and her mom had braided her hair. He said the last thing he remembers is "just that sweet little face." Read more...
April 27, 2012
Hundreds Search for Kelli Bordeaux
Hundreds of volunteers have turned out to search the Fayetteville, North Carolina area for a missing 23-year-old Army medical specialist who has been missing since April 14. Kelli Bordeaux was last seen leaving a neighborhood bar around 1:20 a.m. that Saturday morning. Bordeaux was reported missing when she failed to show up for work Monday, April 16, which family and friends said was highly out of character. Read more...
April 26, 2012
6-Year-Old's Disappearance Puzzles Police
Investigators are scrambling to follow more than 260 tips in the case of a missing 6-year-old who was last seen in her bedroom in her Tucson home. First-grader Isabel Mercedes Celis was last seen by family members around 11 p.m. Friday, April 20, after she attended a Little League game with the family. Isabel was discovered missing around 8 a.m. Saturday from the home she shares with her parents and two brothers. Read more...
April 24, 2012
Police End Search for Etan Patz
Authorities have concluded their search of a Manhattan basement for the remains of Etan Patz, who vanished 33 years ago on his walk to the school bus stop. No remains were found, and NBC New York has learned from a law enforcement official that field tests on a concrete slab that contained a "stain of interest" over the weekend were negative for blood. Read more...
April 23, 2012
Second Man Questioned in Etan Patz Case
The FBI and NYPD dug into the concrete floor of a SoHo basement to search for the remains of Etan Patz, a 6-year-old boy who went missing 33 years ago on his short walk to the school bus stop. Investigators have also questioned a second person in connection with the re-examination of evidence. NBC New York has learned that on the morning Patz disappeared in 1979, that man was observed at the building where police are searching now, and also worked with a handyman who authorities are eyeing in the case. Read more...
April 20, 2012
Police Search for Child Missing Since 1979
Authorities in New York may finally be zeroing in on Etan Patz, the boy who disappeared 33 years ago and became the first missing child to be featured on a milk carton. NYPD officers and FBI agents were searching a Manhattan basement Thursday, acting on new clues to the landmark case. Etan was last seen May 25, 1979 walking two blocks from his family's home in the SoHo section of Manhattan to a bus stop for the ride to school. Read more...
April 10, 2012
Sierra LaMar's Family Offers Reward
Family members of a missing 15-year-old California girl have used fundraisers and donations to offer a $10,000 reward for information leading to her safe return. Sierra LaMar has been missing since March 16 when she left home to walk to a nearby school bus stop. Investigators believe she may have been the victim of an acquaintance abduction. Read more...
March 27, 2012
2 Bodies Found in Shallow Grave
The bodies of two women found over the weekend in a wooded area in Detroit are those of two best friends reported abducted nearly a month ago, according to the medical examiner's office. Wayne County medical examiner's spokeswoman Brooke Blackwell said the bodies of Abreeya Brown and Ashley Conaway were found gagged and bound with duct tape in a shallow grave. Both women had been shot in the head, Blackwell said. Brown, 18, and Conaway, 21, were abducted Feb. 28 by two armed men outside their home in the nearby enclave of Hamtramck. Read more...
March 26, 2012
New Search Launched for Ayla Reynolds
A renewed search for missing toddler Ayla Reynolds was launched on Saturday, officials said. The girl vanished from her father's home in Waterville, Maine, in December. Ayla was aged 20 months old at the time. Police are treating her disappearance as a crime, but no one has been charged. Read more...
March 24, 2012
Burned Body Believed to Be Missing Texas Girl
A severely burned body found in Texas is believed to be a missing 15-year-old girl, authorities said. A passerby discovered the body at around 7 a.m. Saturday morning. Police said they believe the body belongs to Moriah Gonzales, of Waxahachie, who was reported missing last week. Police have issued arrest warrants for two people in connection with the girl's death, while they wait for a positive identification to be made by the Dallas County Medical Examiner's Office. Read more...
March 23, 2012
Missing Bay Area Teen's Purse, Clothing Found
The Santa Clara County sheriff's office confirmed that they found the purse and some clothing of missing Morgan Hill, calif., teenager Sierra LaMar, NBCBayArea.com reported Thursday. The items were found Sunday about two miles away from the girl's home. The discovery has brought investigators back to the area for a second search of the area. Fifty personnel and search dogs will be employed, and the FBI has been called to assist. A cell phone and computer belonging to the 15-year-old were found Saturday, but did not provide police with any clues into her disappearance nearly a week ago. Read more...
March 22, 2012
Body of Sherry Arnold Believed Found
A body found outside of Williston, N.D., is believed to be that of a missing school teacher from Sidney, Mont., officials said. "It is believed the remains are those of Sherry Arnold," the FBI said in a press release, adding that further identification efforts were underway. Arnold, 43, disappeared Jan. 7 during a morning run. Two men were later arrested. Read more...
45-Year-Old Florida Woman Missing
Police are searching for a 45-year-old South Florida woman who has been missing since last week. Maria Claudia Murphy's black convertible was located Tuesday evening after a tipster notified police the vehicle was in the parking lot of a Pompano Beach shopping center. The vehicle was towed to the police department for processing. Murphy went missing Friday after depositing $5,000 at an ATM outside a Bank of America in Coral Springs. Frank Murphy called police Friday night when his wife didn't return home. Read more...
March 21, 2012
Search Widens for Missing California Teen
Investigators began questioning the friends of a missing 15-year-old California girl and searching her computer and cellphone records for clues to her whereabouts. Sierra LaMar, of Morgan Hill, has been missing since she was last seen Friday morning before leaving home for school at Sobrato High School. Her cellphone was found in a field less than a mile from her home Saturday night. Authorities said her last text message was sent from that phone around 7 a.m. Friday. Read more...
March 16, 2012
Arrest Made in Disappearance of Samantha Koenig
An Anchorage man connected to the disappearance of 18-year-old Samantha Koenig is in jail after his arrest this week in Texas, but Koenig remains missing, police said. Texas authorities arrested the man, Israel Keyes, in Lufkin, Texas after a traffic stop, police said. He was described in a statement issued by police here Thursday as "a person of interest" in Koenig's disappearance. Read more...
March 15, 2012
Infant Kidnapped 8 Years Ago Found
A boy who was kidnapped as an infant eight years ago is believed to have been found in Texas, according to authorities. When the boy, Miguel Morin, disappeared in 2004, his former babysitter and godmother, Krystle Rochelle Tanner, was accused of taking him -- but the case went cold in 2006. Read more...
March 14, 2012
Reward Increased in Kelly Rothwell Case
It's been a year since 35-year-old police cadet Kelly Rothwell went missing from her Gulf front condo in Florida. Detectives and her friends and family think she's dead. But they have no evidence, no DNA and no arrests have been made. Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri announced that Rothwell's family is offering a $25,000 reward and his office is offering another $25,000. The money will go to anyone who can lead detectives to the woman's whereabouts. Read more...
Boyfriend of Missing Police Cadet Arrested
The boyfriend of a Florida police cadet who has been missing for over a year has been arrested. David Perry, allegedly the last person to see Kelly Rothwell, 35, before she was reported missing, has been arrested on grand larceny charges in Steuben County. Perry is accused of stealing in excess of $300,000 from New York State retirement disability fund over the past seven years. Read more...
March 05, 2012
Police Seek Public's Help in Locating Missing Teen
New Hampshire police are asking the public's help in locating a 17-year-old last seen at his high school in Conway a week ago. Conway police say Dalton Blake has no history of running away and has not made contact with family members since Monday, Feb. 27. Conway police Sgt. Alan Broyer says Blake was despondent at the time of his disappearance and that his family is very concerned about his well-being. Read more...
Police Search for Missing Wisconsin Student
Police launched an extensive search for a missing Wisconsin college student using tracking dogs and about 150 volunteers. Eric Duffey, who's originally from Fitchburg and attends the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, was last seen about 1:15 a.m. Saturday leaving Joe's Bar in downtown Stevens Point. The 21-year-old was believed to be heading back to his residence. Read more...
February 16, 2012
Ayla's Dad Bought Insurance Policy
The mother of a missing Maine toddler said the girl's father took out a life insurance policy just weeks before she disappeared. "In the same week Justin took Ayla from me, he took out a life insurance policy on Ayla," Trista Reynolds said. "Now, why did he take out that life insurance policy? I'm still trying to figure that one out myself. Because who takes a life insurance policy out on their own child?" Read more...
February 15, 2012
Teacher Kidnappers Sent Back to Montana
Two men accused of abducting a Montana school teacher missing since last month and presumed dead were ordered sent back from North Dakota to Montana to face kidnapping charges there. A judge in Williams County District Court in Williston, N.D., granted Montana's request for the extradition of Lester Waters Jr., 47, and Michael Spell, 22, who have been held there since after their arrests in January. Read more...
February 07, 2012
Police Search Landfill for 5-Year-Old Girl
Police have started searching a landfill south of Phoenix for the body of a 5-year-old Arizona girl who has been missing for more than four months and who authorities now believe is dead. About 20 officers wore protective gear, masks, and boots, and used rake-like tools as they began sifting through every single piece of garbage in a 36,000-square-foot area of the Butterfield Landfill in Mobile, south of the Phoenix area. That amounts to about 6,000 tons of trash. Read more...
Gunman Shoots 3 Brothers at Poker Game
A gunman shot three brothers, one fatally, after being asked to leave a poker game in Houston. The gunman was in critical condition after one of the brothers at the game returned fire, KTRK reported. The Harris County Sheriff's Office said several people were gathered at a Houston home for the game. The suspect, who was not identified, was asked to leave at around 1:30 a.m. local time Sunday. Witnesses said some guests pushed him down the driveway on his way out. Read more...
February 06, 2012
Josh Powell, Sons Killed in Explosion
A man whose wife disappeared under suspicious circumstances in Utah two years ago has been killed in a fire along with the couple's two young sons. Authorities said Josh Powell intentionally set off the explosion that killed himself and Susan Powell's two children. Powell had recently lost custody of the two boys to Susan's parents in a court hearing. Read more...
February 04, 2012
Divers Resume Search for Ayla Reynolds
Divers from the Maine Warden Service and Maine State Police are back in the Kennebec River as they continue to investigate the disappearance of a toddler in Waterville. Maine Department of Safety spokesman Steve McCausland says divers searching for Ayla Reynolds wanted to go over the area that was searched on Jan. 11 for a second time. Read more...
February 03, 2012
Search Under Way for 13-Year-Old Missouri Girl
Missouri authorities are searching for a 13-year-old girl last seen on surveillance camera footage leaving a shopping center with an unidentified man. Police said a registered sex offender was also spotted leaving the shopping center behind the pair, but they said the offender -- whom they located shortly after -- is not a focus in the case. Taylor Dittmar is described as 5 feet, 6 inches tall with blonde hair and blue eyes. She was last seen leaving the East Hills Shopping Center in St. Joseph, Mo., which sits right along the northern Kansas state line. Read more...
February 02, 2012
Judge Denies Custody to Josh Powell
A judge has ruled that the children of missing Utah mother Susan Powell must remain in the custody of her parents. The judge also says she won't consider returning the two boys to their father, Josh Powell, until he undergoes a psycho-sexual evaluation. The children have been living with her parents since Josh Powell's father Steven was arrested on child porn and voyeurism charges last fall. Read more...
January 27, 2012
Lauren Spierer's Parents 'Clear' Persons of Interest
The parents of missing Indiana University student Lauren Spierer announced Thursday that they have ruled out several persons of interest in the disappearance of their daughter. It was the first time Charlene and Robert Spierer have publicly eliminated potential suspects. Since June 3, when Lauren was last seen, police have focused on five Indiana University students, all deemed"persons of interest." The Spierers wanted more help and hired New York private detectives, led by former NYPD cop Bo Dietl. The private investigators said they have spoken to four of the persons of interest, including Lauren's boyfriend, Jesse Wolff. Read more...
