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People Who Are Discovered Or Re-Surface After Long Disappearances

A Kenyan police officer who vanished and was subsequently fired for desertion and had an arrest warrant issued for him, was actually an unknown patient in the main hospital who was in a coma.

"A Kenyan police officer has woken up from a nine-month coma to find he had been sacked for desertion.

Neither the family nor the police force had any idea where Constable Reuben Kimutai Lel was - his niece told the BBC they thought he was dead.

But it turns out that he had been the victim of a road accident and had been in one of the country's biggest hospitals all along.

He only regained consciousness last week.

His niece Joan Jeptoo told the BBC of the family's horror as they searched for his body in morgues after they had given up on his chances of being alive.
At one point they almost collected a decomposing body from a morgue that was said to be him.

"We thought he was dead because his phone was off. Early this year we went to collect a body that we were told resembled him, but the fingerprints didn't match," she said.

The police officer was admitted on 21 December 2020 as an unknown person at the main referral hospital in the capital, Nairobi. He had no identity documents with him.

Meanwhile, he was sacked from his job, charged in absentia with desertion and a warrant was issued for his arrest. The case was later withdrawn after police failed to find him."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-58681463
Well, I do hope he is reinstated or offered some compensation for having his name unfairly sullied.
 
It would seem the 20-year-old mystery about a missing Ohio woman and her two children will be confirmed as 'solved' soon.
Police spot car of Ohio mother with 2 children missing for nearly 20 years

Police have found a car that belonged to an Ohio woman who went missing nearly 20 years ago with her two children.

The Ohio woman's car was recovered from the Ohio River in Aurora, Ind., on Wednesday, police in the Cincinnati suburb Dehli Township said in a statement on Facebook on Friday. ...

Stephanie Van Nguyen, 26, and her two children, Kristina, 4, and John, 3, went missing nearly 20 years ago, according to the police statement.

"Mrs. Nguyen left a note that she was going to drive into the Ohio River," the statement said. "A lengthy investigation began, however, the case went cold." ...

Technological advancements, such as side scan sonar technology, led to the reopening of the case this year, with the Hamilton County Police Association Dive Team and the Indiana Department of Natural Resources assisting local police with the investigation. The probe included scanning the Ohio River for the past six months.

"Indiana State Police is now assisting Dehli Police to determine if Mrs. Nguyen and her children were in the vehicle," the police statement said.
FULL STORY: https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/202...amily-missing-20-years-indiana/1591634410483/
 
Warrant issued now but body found in 2017.

A warrant has been issued for the arrest of a man who had been due to stand trial accused of murdering his mother.

Sean Flynn is alleged to have killed Louise Tiffney in 2002 - but failed to appear at the High Court in Livingston. The Crown said they had carried out a number of inquiries, and it was not believed Mr Flynn would be attending court in the near future. Mr Flynn's home address was given as Berlin in Germany.

Ms Tiffney, who was 43, was last seen outside her flat in the Dean Village area of Edinburgh in May 2002. Following extensive searches and repeated appeals from her family, her body was eventually found in 2017, near Gosforth House in Longniddry in East Lothian.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-58980887
 
This belongs on a 'Missing Persons Who Are Found' thread but I can't, er, find it.

A car belonging to a long-missing young man has been recovered from a creek in Alabama. His remains appear to be present.
Sky News link -
Remains found in car belonging to US student who disappeared 45 years ago

Investigators are hoping that the discovery of a 1974 Pinto could finally solve the disappearance of a university student 45 years ago.

The vehicle was pulled from a creek near Cusseta, Alabama, on Tuesday after a member of the public spotted it and called police.

Inside the car, investigators found what they think are human bones, along with identification and credit cards belonging to Kyle Wade Clinkscales.

The car belonged to Mr Clinkscales, although the bones have not yet been confirmed as his remains.

The 22-year-old disappeared on 27 January, 1976, after leaving LaGrange, Georgia, to return to Auburn University in Alabama.

Mr Clinkscales had not been forgotten and there had been searches over the years. How sad that his parents died without knowing what became of him.
 
Remains found in 1982 but only just identified.

TWINSBURG, Ohio ― Skeletal remains found nearly 40 years ago have been identified as those of a guitarist who once played with the R&B group The O’Jays and also co-wrote a few of their songs, investigators said.

Authorities used DNA and genealogical research to identify the remains of Frank “Frankie” Little Jr., which were found in a garbage bag in a wooded area behind a business in Twinsburg in 1982, said Summit County Medical Examiner Lisa Kohler. His death has now been ruled a homicide, but who killed him remains unknown, she said.

Little, who was born in Cleveland in 1943, played with the the O’Jays in the mid-1960s. He was not a founding member of the group that began in Canton, Ohio, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005.

He served in the U.S. Army for two years, including in the Vietnam War, but not much was known about his disappearance, the Akron Beacon Journal reported.

Walter Williams, one of the original members of the O’Jays, said Little wrote songs with Eddie Levert, another one of the band’s founders, according to Twinsburg detective Eric Hendershott, who helped revive the investigation into the remains.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ojays-frank-little-remains_n_61ba1d92e4b0d4c6de9631e6
 
Remains found in 1982 but only just identified.

TWINSBURG, Ohio ― Skeletal remains found nearly 40 years ago have been identified as those of a guitarist who once played with the R&B group The O’Jays and also co-wrote a few of their songs, investigators said.

Authorities used DNA and genealogical research to identify the remains of Frank “Frankie” Little Jr., which were found in a garbage bag in a wooded area behind a business in Twinsburg in 1982, said Summit County Medical Examiner Lisa Kohler. His death has now been ruled a homicide, but who killed him remains unknown, she said.

Little, who was born in Cleveland in 1943, played with the the O’Jays in the mid-1960s. He was not a founding member of the group that began in Canton, Ohio, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005.

He served in the U.S. Army for two years, including in the Vietnam War, but not much was known about his disappearance, the Akron Beacon Journal reported.

Walter Williams, one of the original members of the O’Jays, said Little wrote songs with Eddie Levert, another one of the band’s founders, according to Twinsburg detective Eric Hendershott, who helped revive the investigation into the remains.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ojays-frank-little-remains_n_61ba1d92e4b0d4c6de9631e6
I wonder what the story there is?
 
Surviving members of the group could reunite, record a song about the case and have a comeback tour.
That would be tasteless and cynical, cashing in on the death of their friend.
 
I wonder what the story there is?

Nothing to do with the O'Jays who had the hits in the 1970s, that's for sure. Apparently his remains had been decomposing in a bin bag for over two years before they were found. The police suspect murder (no shit!) but don't believe they have enough evidence now to know what happened. So it's a mystery, sadly.
 
Shades of Foss Lake again ... An Idaho teen went missing 4 years ago, and searches / investigations hadn't turned up any solid clues to what happened to him. A visiting search team located the MIA teen's car in 8 feet of water in the Snake River.
Lead diver and investigator talks about finding Jed Hall’s vehicle in the Snake River

A member of a search team who located a missing teen’s vehicle in the Snake River Sunday said he has never worked the case before and found the car in 20 minutes. ...

Doug Bishop is a lead diver and lead investigator with Adventures With Purpose, a company based in Oregon. Adventures With Purpose has been around for about five years and is an underwater sonar search and recovery dive team. ...

Bishop came to Idaho Falls on Sunday with his team to help in the Matthew “Jed” Hall case.

When Jed was 16, he left his parent’s home on Jan. 22, 2018. In the days, weeks and years that followed, Idaho Falls police detectives searched for Jed, who vanished in his 2009 gray Nissan Versa hatchback. He took a 9mm handgun and camping/survival-type gear with him. Jed reportedly left a note indicating he may attempt suicide. ...

“We came into this like we come into all cases. We determine if someone is missing and if someone is missing with a vehicle. We specialize in sonar the way that law enforcement doesn’t have the capability,” Bishop explained. “Do we have a cellphone ping, a last known location? Locations that are frequented, etc. That’s how we base the waterways that we need to search and that’s how we choose those waterways.”

In this case, the last known place where Jed’s cellphone pinged four years ago was near the Snake River. ...

Bishop said he and his team started the search on Sunday at 9 a.m. just south of the Johns Hole boat ramp. Within 20 minutes, Adventures With Purpose discovered a vehicle underwater about 75 yards down from the boat ramp in just 8 feet of water. ...

He said there is evidence that Jed’s vehicle has been in the water since he disappeared four years ago. ...
FULL STORY: https://www.eastidahonews.com/2022/...finding-jed-halls-vehicle-in-the-snake-river/
 
A young Florida couple and their infant daughter disappeared in 1981. Soon thereafter the bodies of an adult couple were found in Texas, but they would remain unidentified as the missing couple until 2021. The missing daughter has now been located (now aged 42) alive and well.
The missing daughter of a couple killed in 1981 has been found alive more than 40 years later

he missing infant daughter of a man and woman whose bodies were discovered in Texas in 1981 has been found "alive and well" more than four decades later, according to the office of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

The bodies of Florida couple Tina Gail Linn Clouse and Harold Dean Clouse Jr. were found in a wooded area in Houston, the office said in a news release. But the couple -- "the apparent victims of a homicide" -- were not positively identified until 2021 through the work of forensic genealogists with Identifinders International.

For the Linn and Clouse families -- who last heard from the couple in 1980 and spent decades searching for answers about the Clouses' whereabouts -- one question has been left unanswered: Where was their infant daughter Holly? According to authorities, the girl was not found with the couple's remains. ...

But after more than 40 years, Holly -- now 42 -- has been found, per the AG's office.

Holly has been told about her biological parents' identities and has been in contact with her extended family, the AG's office said. All hope to soon meet in person, it added.

The release from the AG's office did not detail Holly's life for the last 40 years, though family members quoted in the news release said she'd had a good life and was well cared for.

The investigation into her parents' deaths is ongoing ...
FULL STORY: https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/09/us/missing-daughter-found-alive/index.html
 
Some Good news

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-61754106
The child of two parents who were found murdered in Texas more than 40 years ago has been located alive and well, the state attorney general has said.
"Baby Holly" Crouse, now 42 years old, was not found with her parents at the 1981 murder scene. The couple was not identified until 2021 using DNA tests.
At a news conference, Texas officials said they "rejoice" that she is safe, but the two murder cases remain open.
 
According to news stories online -

The father had belonged to a cult before he paired up with the mother and had the child.

They moved to a new area for his new job shortly before it happened.

Family received a letter for them and then heard nothing.

The couple (and baby) disappeared.

His family (I think) were contacted about the car which the couple had been loaned by them. Someone wanted to sell it back to them. The family say they told police but there are no records of that. The family were told the couple had joined a cult and didn't want any contact with them.

The baby was delivered to a church and was adopted. She is now an adult with 5 children of her own.

The couples' bodies were found (1981 ish) but not identified until recently. Then the question of what happened to the baby led to investigation/this lady has been identified as the daughter. Presumably they have already done DNA tests to confirm she is the child, although tracking her down was done by more old fashioned investigating.

It sounds like assumptions were made that the couple had voluntarily disappeared with the child and the police didn't investigate further/enough at the time.

Who were the "cult" people who sold the car/dropped the child off? Did they kill the parents?

The cult aspect of the story intrigues me.
 
Who were the "cult" people who sold the car/dropped the child off? Did they kill the parents?

The cult aspect of the story intrigues me.

Webster said the women who left Holly at the church in Arizona also wore robes. They were barefoot and identified themselves as members of a “nomadic religious group” that believed in “the separation of male and female members,” as well as a vegetarian lifestyle.

Webster added that investigators believe the group roamed around southwestern states, including Arizona, California and possibly Texas. The group was spotted in Yuma, Arizona in the early 1980s, Webster said, noting the female members would sometimes be seen around town asking for food.


Full Article:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/06/10/baby-holly-alive-texas-cold-case/
 
The timeframe and descriptive details (white robes; barefoot; male / female separation; begging; vegetarian; divesting of all possessions; American Southwestern centrality) are consistent with the Christ Family (Lightning Amen; Christ's Family) cult founded by Charles McHugh (aka Lightning Amen).

https://www.washingtonpost.com/arch...claimed/6f5e70f6-8acf-4f4b-a85c-5593246485fb/

https://forum.culteducation.com/read.php?12,4983,page=1

McHugh legally changed his name to Lightning Amen, and his group were apparently based around Hemet, California. McHugh / Amen apparently died in 2010.

https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/name/lightning-amen-obituary?pid=178634776
 
The news articles I read never gave any names of cults and not being an expert on cults I wouldn't be able to guess from the descriptions given.
 
Body in car. Not clear if it's Tony Lynch.

Human remains have been found in a car recovered from Lough Erne in Co Fermanagh earlier this week, the PSNI has confirmed.

The discovery of the vehicle was made as part of searches for Michael 'Tony' Lynch.

On Tuesday, gardaí investigating the disappearance of a man from his home in Co Monaghan 18 years ago reported a significant development after a car was recovered from Lough Erne in Co Fermanagh.

https://www.irishexaminer.com/break...ed-during-search-for-missing-man-1000880.html

It was Tony Lynch.

The body of a man who had been missing for 18 years was found after a local fisherman detected an “odd shape” on the bed of Lough Erne while using sonar equipment, an inquest has heard.

Michael Anthony Lynch, known as Tony, had been reported missing by his family in January 2002 but it was not until 2020 that his body and car were discovered underwater in Fermanagh.

A company director for a diving company had been working on the water in February 2020 when the specialist equipment he was using showed up a shape near Corradillar Quay in Lisnaskea, an inquest into Mr Lynch’s death heard.

In a statement read to the coroner’s court sitting at Laganside on Wednesday, the man said he had been using “specialist side-imaging sonar” which creates 3D images of anything lying on the bottom of the lough.

His statement said: “On that date I was about 25m away from Corradillar Quay slipway when I saw an odd shape on the lough bed which I thought might have been a car. I intended to come back and have a closer look at another stage and dive to see what it was. Due to work, I didn’t get back as quickly as I’d hoped. On May 16, 2020, I met a garda when I was out fishing and mentioned the possibility of a car to him as I was aware that they were looking for a missing person and a car in Lough Erne.”

He took police to the spot and the car was recovered on May 18 that year, with Mr Lynch’s remains inside.

Mr Lynch, a digger driver, was identified by dental records and formally pronounced dead on May 20, 2020.

Some 11 bodies of water had been searched by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and gardaí after Mr Lynch was reported missing, but nothing had been found. ...

https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-40901429.html
 
Remains discovered in Texas in 2013 have now been identified as a Texas teen who went missing (ostensibly as a runaway) in 2000.
Human remains found in 2013 ID'd as Texas teen missing since 2000

Human remains initially found in 2013 in Midland County, Texas, have now been positively identified as those of a teenager who went missing in 2000, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Following an extensive investigation, the remains were identified as Sylvia Nicole Smith, the department said in a release issued Monday. ...

Smith was 16 when she was last seen in February of 2000. At the time, her mother reported her as a runaway, filing the missing person's report four days after she last saw her daughter.

Survey workers discovered her remains in 2013 south of Midland, Texas, near an oilfield. The remains were sent to the University of North Texas Center for Human Identification, where an anthropology report was completed, and DNA was extracted. But they were not positively identified until earlier this month.

An autopsy confirmed Smith's death was a homicide. ...
FULL STORY: https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/202...ifies-remain-missing-2000-girl/1751656438980/
 
German 8-year-old boy found in sewer system a week after disappearing

An 8-year-old boy who was missing in the northwest Germany city of Oldenburg for over a week was found in the city's sewer system about a 1,000 feet from his family's home on Saturday.

A resident heard noises coming from under a manhole cover around 6:30 a.m. and alerted police.

The little boy, who police have called Joe, was "completely undressed when he was found" and "did not have any serious external injuries, but was severely hypothermic and dehydrated."

"After evaluating all traces and clues, the officers now assume that Joe crawled through a drain into the rainwater sewer system on the day of his disappearance and lost his orientation there after several meters," Oldenburg police said Tuesday in a news release.

Foul play has been ruled out.

https://www.foxnews.com/world/german-boy-found-sewer-system-week-disappearing

maximus otter
 
Not clear as to how long he was dead but police are treating it as murder.

Skeletal remains of a man found wearing a pair of cowboy boots in a scrapyard three years ago have been identified.

The remains of William "Bill" Long were found in Cockett Wick Lane, St Osyth in Essex, in April 2019. The identity of Mr Long, who was from the Tendring area and would now be in his 70s, was established by police after extensive inquiries.

Mr Long's sister Patricia said the family lost contact with him following their father's death in the late 1996.

Essex Police believed Mr Long was last seen, or believed to be alive, between March 1999 and March 2000 and had a girlfriend who had moved to Australia at about that time.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-essex-62146524
 

Teacher Hid ‘Missing’ Boy in Her Home for Two Years, Police Say


A California public school teacher has been arrested after police say she hid a teenager who had been reported missing for two years, the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office said.

hidden-away-teacher-holga-castillo-770236854.jpg


Holga Castillo Olivares, 61, faces charges of detention of a minor with the intent to conceal from a parent(s) and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, police said.

Olivares is described as a teacher at the Alice Birney Waldorf-Inspired K-8 School, though the boy she is accused of sheltering does not appear to have been her student at the time cops say she hid him. According to the boy’s guardian, Olivares is the mother of one of his friends.

The bizarre saga began in May 2020, when the then-15-year-old reportedly left his home after an argument. Police say he was reported missing that June. Then, in March 2022, he suddenly returned and asked to move back home.

Olivares has been placed on administrative leave by the school district pending an investigation, KCRA reported. She was still in police custody as of Saturday evening and ineligible for bail, according to jail records.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crim...her-home-for-two-years-police-say/ar-AA13gDOP

maximus otter
 
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