Unlisted Missing and Unidentified Persons Research

[MadMcGoo]

Websleuths’ newspapers.com profile: Websleuths's Profile - Newspapers.com™ Member - Newspapers.com™

Google Sheet: Missing & Unidentified

THREAD RULES and INFORMATION

• Absolutely NO NAMES listed on the Google Sheet should be posted here. Every entry is numbered and should be used when referenced on the thread. (i.e. “MP501”, “UP3”, “R11”, etc.)
• The Sheet is only meant to be used as a resource tool for researchers and may not be entirely accurate or complete. We’ve done our best to verify and double-check our work, but it’s possible we missed something. Please feel free to post on this thread if you discover an error. We’re happy to correct any data if necessary.
• If there is someone you feel could be added to the Sheet, please post a link here for us to review. Remember though, NO NAMES. If you discover that a person has since been found, dead or alive, we will update accordingly. Please don’t post links to living persons’ social media accounts or other private pages.
• Should you come across a newspaper article or would like one clipped, post the link or a general description, and I’ll clip and save it to our Websleuths account.
• When sharing articles, screenshots alone are not allowed per copyright laws. The content must be properly clipped, and then the generated link may be posted. (Example: Kevin Hicks 1986 UK) Also, articles may not be directly quoted. Please briefly summarize them in your own words. Additionally, screenshots from paid subscription sites such as Ancestry.com are not allowed to be posted.
• As you’ll notice, there are many names on the Sheet and only two of us (shout out to @victoriarobinson642 ) who’ve been working to compile the data. It’s almost impossible for us to attempt to get these people added to NamUs or other public databases. If you want to submit someone from the Sheet on your own, please do!! As a reminder, Websleuths does not allow or condone members reaching out to family members! Just don’t do it.
• Any discussion or reference to the people listed on the Sheet should ONLY be discussed on this thread.

I’m going to allow a little time for members to read and “like” this post before opening up the thread. This is a bit of a new topic and I want to be sure we can use this discussion for good!!

Thanks!
Mad

 

[?!?]

Websleuths’ newspapers.com profile: Websleuths's Profile - Newspapers.com™ Member - Newspapers.com™

Google Sheet: Missing & Unidentified

THREAD RULES and INFORMATION

• Absolutely NO NAMES listed on the Google Sheet should be posted here. Every entry is numbered and should be used when referenced on the thread. (i.e. “MP501”, “UP3”, “R11”, etc.)
• The Sheet is only meant to be used as a resource tool for researchers and may not be entirely accurate or complete. We’ve done our best to verify and double-check our work, but it’s possible we missed something. Please feel free to post on this thread if you discover an error. We’re happy to correct any data if necessary.
• If there is someone you feel could be added to the Sheet, please post a link here for us to review. Remember though, NO NAMES. If you discover that a person has since been found, dead or alive, we will update accordingly. Please don’t post links to living persons’ social media accounts or other private pages.
• Should you come across a newspaper article or would like one clipped, post the link or a general description, and I’ll clip and save it to our Websleuths account.
• When sharing articles, screenshots alone are not allowed per copyright laws. The content must be properly clipped, and then the generated link may be posted. (Example: Kevin Hicks 1986 UK) Also, articles may not be directly quoted. Please briefly summarize them in your own words. Additionally, screenshots from paid subscription sites such as Ancestry.com are not allowed to be posted.
• As you’ll notice, there are many names on the Sheet and only two of us (shout out to @victoriarobinson642 ) who’ve been working to compile the data. It’s almost impossible for us to attempt to get these people added to NamUs or other public databases. If you want to submit someone from the Sheet on your own, please do!! As a reminder, Websleuths does not allow or condone members reaching out to family members! Just don’t do it.
• Any discussion or reference to the people listed on the Sheet should ONLY be discussed on this thread.

I’m going to allow a little time for members to read and “like” this post before opening up the thread. This is a bit of a new topic and I want to be sure we can use this discussion for good!!

Thanks!
Mad

Would appreciate:

Statement of Purpose
Use Case (or two)

TIA

 

[MadMcGoo]

Would appreciate:

Statement of Purpose
Use Case (or two)

TIA

Do you mean the purpose of the Sheet? And cases that may have benefited from it?

Sorry, I’m not quite sure what you’re asking, but I’m happy to answer if you could clarify a bit!

 

[cenazoic]

Absolutely NO NAMES listed on the Google Sheet should be posted here.

May I ask about the rationale for this? It would seem, on the face of it, to stifle discussion because you have to a) remember to use the appropriate code/ look it up, b) nobody else knows who you’re talking about without looking it up, and c) it’s strangely depersonalizing. All in all, there’s a lot of friction being created here imo, with no (stated) benefit.

(Not trying to be argumentative, just trying to understand the reasoning for this. )

there are many names on the Sheet and only two of us (shout out to @victoriarobinson642 ) who’ve been working to compile the data. It’s almost impossible for us to attempt to get these people added to NamUs or other public databases.

To clarify, what’s our job here? Should we be adding people to the sheet, to Namus, or both?

What’s the criterion for adding people to the sheet?

 

[devertere]

One suggestion: Streamline the location naming. Google Sheets can be used to automatically create a map. It would be a shame to miss out on that opportunity.

(Coordinates or Google PlaceID)

Also: WOW!

 

[devertere]

MISSING, where I could never find a resolution:
A.F., since 25 May 1979, from Northridge Hospital, CA

 

[cenazoic]

Stumbled across this story while looking for something else, and noting it for future research, since I went no further in attempting to see if he was ever IDed.

Should I add to spreadsheet?

Article clipped from The Post-Crescent

Clipping found in The Post-Crescent published in Appleton, Wisconsin on 10/18/1965.

www.newspapers.com

By the way, @MadMcGoo and @victoriarobinson642 - thank y’all so much for the work you’ve already done.

Please let us know how we can contribute! I think this is an important and very overlooked area of missing/unidentified persons research, and would love to help in any way I can.

 

[devertere]

Another MISSING case: L.B. from Homestead, Florida. Declared dead in 2024.

 

[devertere]

And this one has never left my mind: https://www.newspapers.com/article/express-news/148986957/

 

[cenazoic]

And this one has never left my mind:

Oof. Have you ever been able to figure out who she (GE) is; ie, full name?

 

[devertere]

Oof. Have you ever been able to figure out who she (GE) is; ie, full name?

I've tried back when I found it but if i recall correctly I couldn't quite figure it out. I think I'll start another round of research soon.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

I am not clear exactly what this thread is for. Is it for any MP or UID mentioned in MSM that doesn't seem to have a NamUs profile nor resolution?

I was just looking at a case of a woman who went missing in 2020, and she has a thread on WS but no visible NamUs profile. Is that the kind of case you're looking for or not really?

 

[bettyboop]

@ChatteringBirds , MadMcGoo and Victoria Robinson have been working incredibly hard to create spreadsheets that we can use. Refer back to the OP's first post and check out the links and the rules to follow. Hope this helps answer some of your questions. JMO MOO

 

[cenazoic]

I am not clear exactly what this thread is for. Is it for any MP or UID mentioned in MSM that doesn't seem to have a NamUs profile nor resolution?

Yes

 

[MadMcGoo]

I apologize if I didn’t make clear the purpose of this thread or the Sheet we created.

I noticed several years ago when I was researching missing and unidentified persons and trying to find matches between them that there were several sources mentioning people who were not listed on NamUs or anywhere else online.

@victoriarobinson642 and I had privately discussed some of the people we’d found and helped one another research them in order to figure out if they’d ever been found or identified. Ultimately, the spreadsheet was created and we began adding people to it.

The two of us (and I know MANY other members) try hard to find potential matches between missing and unidentified persons, so I thought sharing our research might be beneficial to others. The people listed on the spreadsheet have been discovered while researching several places; Ancestry.com, newspapers.com, social media, law enforcement websites, mainstream media, and various other sources. All the names listed can not be found (to the best of our knowledge and research) in any public database, such as NamUs, The Doe Network, The Charley Project, etc.

We’ve both submitted some names to NamUs in hopes they’d be added to their database. Without a law enforcement contact and case number, however, they don’t accept or add them. I’ve also submitted some potential matches to The Doe Network (they’re the most responsive and have been willing to forward the submissions to genetic genealogists despite the MP or UID not being listed in NamUs).

As for not using full names, some of these people may not be missing. Several names on the Sheet have numerous newspaper articles and Ancestry trees suggesting they are most likely still missing. But, there are others that we’ve found on social media that a family member is searching for. That person could, unbeknownst to their family, be alive and well and voluntarily disappeared. This is in NO WAY meant to depersonalize anyone, rather protect those who may need protecting. There very well could be a reason they’re not publicly listed as missing.

The best way you can contribute to this thread and/or the entire purpose of what we’ve created is by doing any of the following:
1. Post here any MP/UID you’ve found online that may or may not have been located. Other members can help research them! @victoriarobinson642 or I can add them to the Sheet if they’ve not.
2. Contact LE to verify whether someone has been located or identified and attempt to get them listed in a public database.
3. Help research.
4. Suggest and/or submit potential matches.

Just a few examples of how this research could help:

MO Post in thread 'MO - Illmo, WhtFem 50-60, skeletal remains found buried in a wooden crate along the Mississippi River, March 1974'

Sep 18, 2023

The distance is pretty great (approximately 350 miles from Chillicothe), but surely this must be her. JES, missing since 1957, was 53 years old, 5’2” tall, had arthritis, walked with a limp and had false upper teeth.

Some of her personal items were found hidden nearby where she disappeared, along with a rubber mallet and men’s clothing (splattered with red and white spots). Her 17-year-old nephew admitted the clothes were his and subsequently passed a polygraph. He later disappeared for several weeks before returning with no explanation as to where he’d been or what he’d been doing...

• MadMcGoo

• 

Identified! Post in thread 'NM - Guadalupe Co, WhtFem 17-25, UP17089, Killed on BD (11-Jul-78) by RLanphear, Jul'78 (Name Withheld per family request))'

Oct 15, 2017

This is a case that was discovered by AddysMom7610 while researching old newspaper articles looking for possible perpetrators in the Rancho Cucamonga Jane Doe case. She found an article about Ronald E. Lanphear, who along with his pregnant girlfriend Diana Geisinger, went on a cross country murder spree resulting in the death of three people.

One of the victims was this female hitchhiker who, according to the most recent available articles, was still unidentified.

AddysMom7610 contacted the State of New Mexico Coroner's Investigator's office, and they verified that the girl was...

• CarlK90245

• 

AR Thread 'AR - El Dorado, BlkFem UP2929, 30-50, SS card 'Melvalyn Washington', Sep'94'

Sep 3, 2015

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

By bringing people, information, forensic science and technology together, NamUs helps resolve cases.

www.namus.gov

Partial skeletal parts of a woman, height about 65 inches, found in a wooded area off of Highway 82 West in Union county Arkansas, seems to have been a smoker. She was wearing red and white shorts, something black and brown shoes. This one seems quite solvable since dentals and DNA are available and the deceased had a security card with her. So if it was hers I'm assuming it might be just a matter of locating relatives for a DNA test.

Anyway the name on the social security card was Melvalyn Doris Washington.
In the...

• Donjeta
• Replies: 33
• Forum: The Unidentified

• 
• 

 

[MadMcGoo]

MISSING, where I could never find a resolution:
A.F., since 25 May 1979, from Northridge Hospital, CA

I’ve added her. I can’t find any resolution. I wonder if there’s possibly a spelling variation. Arin isn’t very common.

 

[MadMcGoo]

And this one has never left my mind: https://www.newspapers.com/article/express-news/148986957/

It would appear she went missing in Texas, but could have been from Ohio? I added her, too. It’s hard to find anything without an approximate age or last known location. It’s sad that her mother was searching at least 8 years for her.

 

[MadMcGoo]

Stumbled across this story while looking for something else, and noting it for future research, since I went no further in attempting to see if he was ever IDed.

Should I add to spreadsheet?

Article clipped from The Post-Crescent

Clipping found in The Post-Crescent published in Appleton, Wisconsin on 10/18/1965.

www.newspapers.com

By the way, @MadMcGoo and @victoriarobinson642 - thank y’all so much for the work you’ve already done.

Please let us know how we can contribute! I think this is an important and very overlooked area of missing/unidentified persons research, and would love to help in any way I can.

He was identified. RIP Stephan.

Stephan Walter Kappell

Clipping found in The Oshkosh Northwestern published in Oshkosh, Wisconsin on 10/20/1965. Stephan Walter Kappell

www.newspapers.com

 

[cenazoic]

Thanks for your replies (and finding Steven!)

We’ve both submitted some names to NamUs in hopes they’d be added to their database. Without a law enforcement contact and case number, however, they don’t accept or add them

Is there a resource on WS (or anywhere) that contains practical information on how and what to submit to Namus, along with stuff like how exclusions are made?

For example, I was under the impression that they/their ‘system’ could auto-run DNA matches (for example, Virginia seeming to run their UIDs/MPs against everyone else), but this post indicates otherwise. I’m not sure why the site itself is so opaque about the submission / exclusion process, but it would be helpful to have clarity (not that I expect y’all to provide that, this is a side-rant )

If there’s no existing thread on submitting to Namus, would it be helpful to start one? It seems like lots of people may have piecemeal information, which, brought together as a whole, could be super useful.

Sorry for the derail here! But it sounds like submitting to Namus is a waste of time for these type of cases unless you’re willing to reach out to LE and then shepherd whatever the process of establishing a case number/contact entails. I’d like to spend my time on this project productively, and this piece doesn’t sound like it is.

Fantasy: a guide on things like contacting LE, filing FOIAs, communicating with Namus/others, all the practical details of what an amateur researcher can actually do and how to do it. I’m pretty good on the research piece, but often find myself stymied at next steps.

Anyway, I should have some entries for the spreadsheet added in the next few days. Looking forward to collaborating with y’all!

 

[MadMcGoo]

Adding someone to NamUs: https://namus.nij.ojp.gov/sites/g/files/xyckuh336/files/media/document/userguide-enteringmpcases.pdf

Existing thread on NamUs submissions (sort of?): Has your case been entered into NAMUS??

Submitting potential matches: (This is my preferred way) Potential Match Submission To Panel
The Doe Network has a very straightforward and simple way of submitting a potential match. If you’re comfortable contacting the investigating agency or other contact, that’s also an option. I’ve done that, but usually don’t have a lot of time to spend on the phone. I try to have all the information written down so that I’m able to give it to the person I speak to (names, dates, locations, case numbers, identifiers, etc.)

As far as how automated comparisons are made, I’m not entirely sure. My understanding is that if DNA is available for the MP, and is in their system, it is automatically compared to the UIDs that also have DNA available. I had a missing relative whose information was uploaded to NamUs by the investigating agency. Local Sheriff’s deputies collected DNA from her mother to enter into NamUs. Eventually, exclusions were listed on her NamUs profile which had to have been compared automatically within the system. That’s the extent of my knowledge on that topic.

I’ve personally never submitted a FOIA request (that I can recall), but I bet someone here has and might be able to weigh in.

Frankly, the hardest part for us in starting this whole thing has been getting the cases publicly known. So, we’re basically at as big a loss as you are in that regard. These older cases are especially difficult, as you probably know.

Maybe lots of law enforcement agencies will see this thread and run with it! (Fantasy)