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Missing Persons

Found Persons

As escargot points out, we'd need to compare and contrast a missing persons list with a found persons list. This would diminish the numbers dramatically, I'm sure.

It would also leave us with a few genuinely unsolved cases, and as the years go by the odds of finding them get worse.
 
it's not him in that footage at the airport apparently, just been on news a few mins ago
 
Not Him

And if it's not him, where is he? He's vanished completely then, and that's even sadder or, possibly, more sinister.
 
I was almost certain that I'd read in several sources in the distant past that the actor Buster Crabbe who played Flash Gordon in the 1930's serials had vanished never to be seen again, but when I dogpiled him there's no mention of it and he's documented has having passed away in 1983. Does this ring any bells with anyone?

Btw the thing where people vanish then start a new life and forget all their past is known as dissociative fugue:-

http://www.merck.com/pubs/mmanual/section15/chapter188/188c.htm

Marie
 
Bach Beer

I prefer J. S. Bach's fugues to the dissociative kind.

Hadn't heard that about Buster Crabbe but there is some triva on him tickling in the back recesses of my abcessed mind. If something surfaces I'll let you know.
 
Buster Crabbe, the name at least, caused some confusion with me as there was the Hollywood actor, and there was a scandal during the Cold War regarding his namesake. The case was documented in Peter Wright's controversial autobiography Spycatcher, and featured an overweight, unfit diver (Mr. Crabbe) sent to do some reconaissance work on a moored Soviet warship. I believe he came into contact with the propeller of the warship and his headless corpse washed up causing a major embarrassment. At the time I attempted to read the bio, the old Flash Gordon serials were being re-ran which made me look twice at the name.... Maybe you have a similar recollection.

[edit]In April 1956 the headless body of a diver was found floating just outside Portsmouth Harbour near to where the Soviet Cruiser Ordzhonikidze had been moored. The boat had brought Soviet leaders Nikita Khrushchev and Nikolai Bulganin to Britain for a conference with British Premier Anthony Eden. The corpse was later identified as Lt. Commander Lionel ‘Buster’ Crabbe, one of the Royal Navy’s best-known divers and underwater experts.


Although the British government had him officially listed ‘missing presumed dead’, it was later admitted that he was on an MI6 intelligence-gathering mission to study the electronic equipment on the underside of the cruiser. What made the incident extremely embarrassing for the British government was that Eden had expressly forbidden the escapade and was furious when the details came out that his orders were ignored. Some of the blame later was laid at the door of the then Director-General, Sir John Sinclair, who apparently made some disastrous decisions against the advice of his experienced field officers.[/edit]
 
Crabbe and Wright

I believe you've pegged it, as I recall at the time thinking what a jokey nickname "Buster" was for the hapless, and headless, Mr. Crabbe, who ended quite ignobly and unheroically, unlike his namesake's fictional adventures.

Thank you for scratching the mental itch.
 
Ditto the thanks, I'd never realised there were 2 Buster Crabbe's, guess the source I got it from had confused them.

I prefer Bach's Tocattas myself, his fugues get a bit muddled for my taste.

Marie
 
Eyebrows in the Up Position

Muddled? Bach's fugues?

Perish the thought, they are the opposite of muddled, they are clarity itself, hey are mathematical wonderments, some of them with six levels of variation, which is considered more or less the mental equivalent of coming up with a Grand Unified Theory.

Muddled? AAAaaahh.

*wanders off drooling at the madness of the notion, muttering imprecations against the educational system and other curmudgeonly things*
 
:confused:

I'm going to be terribly vague here, but that's because my mother is incapable of relating information without rambling ... apparently many many (30 or 40) years ago a male relation of hers (I've no idea how he was related to here due to the rambling on about his age, height, hair colour, favourite cheese etc) disappeared, from his home in County Cork, and a few years ago he turned up in Wales. He'd ben presumed dead for years and years, but no, he was alive and well and living in Wales. There may have been some reasoning for this but Herself started rambling on about Wales and the rest of the story was lost ... I think he was married here in Ireland, and he may have gotten married while he was in Wales, and I have no idea how it was discovered that he was living in Wales .. :confused:
 
Springsteen Lyrics

Consider this:

HUNGRY HEART

GOT A WIFE AND KIDS IN BALTIMORE, JACK
I WENT OUT FOR A RIDE AND I NEVER WENT BACK
LIKE A RIVER THAT DON´T KNOW WHERE IT´S FLOWING
I TOOK A WRONG TURN AND I JUST KEPT GOING

EVERYBODY´S GOT A HUNGRY HEART
EVERYBODY´S GOT A HUNGRY HEART
LAY DOWN YOUR MONEY AND YOU PLAY YOUR PART
EVERYBODY´S GOT A HUNGRY HEART

I MET HER IN A KINGSTOWN BAR
WE FELL IN LOVE I KNEW IT HAD TO END
WE TOOK WHAT WE HAD AND WE RIPPED IT APART
NOW HERE I AM DOWN IN KINGSTOWN AGAIN

EVERYBODY´S GOT A HUNGRY...

EVERYBODY NEEDS A PLACE TO REST
EVERYBODY WANTS TO HAVE A HOME
DON´T MAKE NO DIFFERENCE WHAT NOBODY SAYS
AIN´T NOBODY LIKE TO BE ALONE.

--Bruce Springsteen

In this song he offers a concise reason some folks disappear. They just walk out of their lives in search of a more meaningful life.
 
Missing People

A neighbour (well two doors down the road ) went missing when I was a young lad about 7 years old. The night he went missing there were claims of bright lights, but that is all I know too young to take enough notice. UFO or Fireworks
 
Hunt for Genette's killer goes on

DNA may solve mystery of girl who vanished 25 years ago today

Today is the 25th anniversary of the disappearance of Genette Tate. Her undelivered newspapers were left scattered across a lane in the village of Aylesbeare, in east Devon.

When Robert Black and the Wests were locked up it seemed that every missing child and young person in Britain for years had been accounted for. Many people believe Black to be responsible for abducting Genette (he was in the right area at the time and it fits his modus operandi) (sic) but he's never admitted it. Maybe the truth will come out now.
 
Families

It would be great for the victims' families if this were to pan out.
 
Originally posted by lopaka
Thread and update posted here: The Doctor Vanishes
Very sad and bewildering.

I hadn't seen this thread before, yet another reason I wish TorgosPizza was still around. The case of the three Springfield, MO women who evaporated over ten years ago that he mentioned is still very strange from a why/how viewpoint, even if the cops think they know the who. Wish I knew if he had any more info.

Hey, I'm back, and it's good to be missed, lopaka. I really just stopped by for a second, and out of curiosity searched for my username. Boom, here I am. I'll tell you what I know about the case, and I hope I'm not being redundant of previous posts.

You're not going to believe this, but my girlfriend was a homicide detective for years in Springfield. Now, however, she's the records administrator for SPD. From what I gather from her, the case is still open, and they think they have the culprit in prison on another charge (rape, IIRC [but I might well be wrong]). The women were two graduating girls--only 18 or so--and one's mother. After the two girls returned from a party the evening of graduation, they all disappeared without a trace, and seem to have left their IDs and purses behind. Several years ago, a guy in prison made a jailhouse confession to his cellmate, whom went to the warden to aid them/gain "brownie points". After the authorities set up surveillance equipment in the cell, such as hidden microphones, the man never spoke of it again. So, the case is officially still open. They seem to think the guy followed them home from the party, and had picked them randomly.

Very sad, indeed.
 
Thank you TorgosPizza. And it is very nice to see you back. Hope you stop by again before too long.
 
TorgosPizza, I've never talked to you and this is completely off topic, but I just had to say for the record that I LOVE Mystery Science Theatre 3000.

Thanks for choosing "TorgosPizza" as your screename.
 
Originally posted by lopaka
Thank you TorgosPizza. And it is very nice to see you back. Hope you stop by again before too long.


I just started a thread about Picts I'll have to keep tabs on, so I'll be around. I need to come back around more often anyway, because I miss this board more than I ever realised I did. If I might share my feelings in 133†5P34K, "U R SO TEH R0xX×0R5!!!!11won" From the bottom of my heart, friends.

Originally posted by Bannik
TorgosPizza, I've never talked to you and this is completely off topic, but I just had to say for the record that I LOVE Mystery Science Theatre 3000.

Thanks for choosing "TorgosPizza" as your screename.

AllOw me tO gEt YOur coMPlimEntarY crAZybrEAd. ;)
 
Found but still missing

These kinds of cases fascinate me, the facial reconstruction and the isotopic examination. Plus someone must know who this poor woman was:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Police have issued a facial reconstruction of an unidentified woman whose remains were found in woodland in north-west London last year.

The body was discovered by ramblers walking near Ducks Hill Road, Ruislip, on December 15. It is believed to have been there since early the previous month, Scotland Yard said.

A post-mortem examination on December 18 failed to establish a formal cause of death and further tests were undertaken which proved inconclusive.

A Yard spokesman said police had made extensive inquiries but the woman was still unidentified.

She was between 25 and 35, 5ft 10in and white with short, dark brown hair. She was wearing beige Regatta trousers (34in waist, 33in inside leg), dark blue Levi jacket, blue Nike walking socks and brown walking boots, size 6-8.

She had a perfect set of teeth, other than the removal of four as a child to allow for the growth of adult teeth. She was not wearing any jewellery, and had no identification on her.

Syringes marked "insulin" were found near the body, and binoculars in a case some distance away.

Isotopic examination of the body - studying trace elements in the bones - indicated she lived or had lived in an area defined to the west as a line from the centre of London to Liverpool, to the east from the centre of London to Cambridge, and to the north from Cambridge to Nottingham.

She may also have spent a longer time in west Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Chorley and Blackburn.

Detective Chief Inspector Gordon Green, leading the investigation, said: "We need the help of the public to find out who this woman is and what has happened to her. A facial reconstruction has been done in an effort to do this."

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_835136.html
 
Isotopes?

Which trace elements are checked for in isotopic analysis? Also, do different sectors of such a small country as England actually produce such distinct patterns?
 
Re: Isotopes?

FraterLibre said:
Which trace elements are checked for in isotopic analysis? Also, do different sectors of such a small country as England actually produce such distinct patterns?
Oxygen isotopes from the water, for one.

If you looked at a geological map of the British Isles you'd see a huge variation in local geology and minerals, therefore of possible trace elements, probably.
 
Ah Geology

I knew they could do this for rocks but had never heard of using isotopes in people before; very interesting and useful.

Can't wait to see how long it takes for this nugget to make it into a script for WITHOUT A TRACE or CSI.
 
Odd Case of Missing Student

MADISON, Wisconsin (AP) -- A university student who was the victim of a baffling attack in February now has disappeared, and police and volunteers were searching for clues Tuesday.

Audrey R. Seiler, 20, a sophomore at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, was last seen early Saturday near her off-campus apartment.

A surveillance tape from her apartment building showed her leaving without her coat or purse, and her door was left open, police Officer Jennifer Krueger said Tuesday. She also left her car behind.

Police spokesman Larry Kamholz said there is little information about where Seiler, of Rockford, Minnesota, was headed.

"We are very puzzled by it," Kamholz said Tuesday on NBC's "Today." "It's not typical of Audrey."

Kamholz said Seiler also was walking near her residence when she was attacked on February 1. She was struck from behind by an unknown assailant and knocked unconscious. She was then moved about a block but was not sexually assaulted. Nothing was taken from her.

Police have no evidence linking Seiler's disappearance to the attack, Krueger said.

Kamholz said Seiler had no idea who may have wanted to harm her.

"It's a very, very weird case," Kamholz said.

Seiler's uncle, Scott Charlesworth-Seiler, said his niece was also baffled by the attack.

"That wasn't something she had any explanation for," he told WISC-TV in Madison.

Police have been following up on telephone tips while volunteers, many from Seiler's hometown, have searched the area around campus for clues. Fliers were posted at stores, dormitories and apartment buildings.

The university e-mailed 46,000 users of its computer system to appeal for help and established a Web site.

UW-Madison Provost Peter Spear said the school also offered its counseling services to her family and to students, faculty and staff who know her.

Several other college-age students from Minnesota have disappeared in recent years.

Last November, University of North Dakota student Dru Sjodin of Pequot Lakes, Minnesota, was allegedly kidnapped from a mall parking lot in Grand Forks, North Dakota. A Crookston, Minnesota, man has been charged with kidnapping but no body has been found.

Erika Dalquist, 21, of Brainerd, Minnesota, was reported missing in October 2002 after she left a Brainerd bar. St. John's University student Josh Guimond, 20, was reported missing in November 2002 after leaving an apartment in Collegeville, Minnesota.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/Midwest/03/30/missing.student.ap/index.html
 
Re-reading this tread has set me to wondering how easy is it to "vanish"? Years ago I was making notes for screenplays and one idea that came to me was of a person turing up in a small town somewhere and claiming they had no idea who they were or how they got there, the townspeople took pity on them and accepted them into the community without too much fuss ... I never wrote the screenplay because I kept thinking "you'd never get away with doing something like that" ... or would you?
 
Why Weird

The cops are emphasizing how weird a case this is, in Minnesota, and yet the facts they relate, while puzzling, aren't that weird. I'd thus surmise that there are facts withheld that trouble the cops.

I'd wonder if the attack is related to the disappearance but the fact she walked out leaving her door open and wore no coat and took no keys or purse speaks to her being troubled, too.

Was the attack actually a ploy for attenion, an oblique cry for help?
 
Already Done

LobeliaOverhill said:
Re-reading this tread has set me to wondering how easy is it to "vanish"? Years ago I was making notes for screenplays and one idea that came to me was of a person turing up in a small town somewhere and claiming they had no idea who they were or how they got there, the townspeople took pity on them and accepted them into the community without too much fuss ... I never wrote the screenplay because I kept thinking "you'd never get away with doing something like that" ... or would you?

Ever seen The Majestic, with Jim Carrey? Excellent film with just that plot.
 
This is a topic that has puzzled me for years. If, as many media outlets claim, the number of reported 'missing persons' numbers in the high thousands, then why isn't more being done to determine exactly just what is going on? even allowing for alien abductions, sasquatch attacks and mothman predations, that's an AWFULLY large number of folk seemingly disappearing into thin air ( and that's just in the U.S. alone )...
 
ignatius said:
This is a topic that has puzzled me for years. If, as many media outlets claim, the number of reported 'missing persons' numbers in the high thousands, then why isn't more being done to determine exactly just what is going on? ........

I've wondered about that myself, in the UK reporting seems to be haphazed, as does the reporting of people who return!!!! In some cases when found, the missing person doesn't want to return & has made a new life etc. It also seems, that to the police, unless the missing person is a minor, or a vunerable person, or there is a suspicion of crime &/or misconduct, then the missing persons report is given a low priority, i.e. logged & forgotton.

Then has someone gone missing or just left home & at what point do people or families start to worry about their absence? In some cases they are glad to see the back of them.

In many cases the missing person lives away from 'home' in the first place & it's only after a few missed cards or letters that other members of the family start to make enquiries & this period can be several years!!!

Basicly, I think it just comes down to a low priority, small chance of finding a person & a lot of work to do so & when they find them they don't want to come home anyway....

Furthermore.... theres no crime untill you find a body.......
 
Adults

Adults are permitted to conduct their llives on their own recognizance, meaning they're allowed legally to disappear if they wish from their familiar surroundings, acquaintances, friends, and family.

There are some legal ramifications, such as fleeing debt, abandoning on-going projects, and breaking contracts, but those aren't usually a crime until the person is found and don't usually motivate huge searches.
 
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