I grew up on the OG true crime show: unsolved mystery, the policeAnd America’s Most Wanted. Maybe that’s why I’ve watched so many true crime shows over the years.
It’s the missing persons case that has always resonated with me the most. Every year, countless people disappear, and every person has a story. Many things that break my heart remain unknown. Family and friends search, hope and wait for answers, sometimes for decades. No one deserves this kind of uncertainty.
Some of the missing persons cases I’ve seen have really confused me.
Instead of summarizing each case, I’m linking directly to the source. Details may change over time, and with advances such as genetic inheritance, new information may sometimes emerge.
- 1902 – Eliza Gersham Cravens — Okmulgee, Oklahoma
- (1945-Soda’s baby — Fayetteville, West Virginia
- 1969 – Dennis Lloyd Martin – Great Smoky Mountains National Park
- 1974 – The dilemma lies in the poor — Pine Ridge, South Dakota
- 1981 – Thelma Pauline Melton – Great Smoky Mountains National Park
- 1999 – Laresha Dinah Walker — Nashville, Tennessee
- 2001 – Jason Zolkowski — Omaha, Nebraska
- 2001 – Branson Perry – Skidmore, Missouri
- 2001 – Sneha Ann Philip – New York, New York
- 2004 – Maura Murray — Haverhill, New Hampshire
- 2006 – Brian Shaffer — Columbus, Ohio
- 2006 – Jennifer Casey – Orlando, Florida
- 2013 – Bryce Laspisa – Castaic, California
- 2016 – Wanda Faye Walker — Nashville, Tennessee (mother of Laresha Dina Walker)
- 2017 – Ashley Loring is a heavy runner — Browning, Montana
- 2021 – Daniel Robinson – Buckeye, Arizona
…
Behind each event lives are disrupted and family and friends are changed forever. Hopefully, the truth will come out soon to those still searching for the answers they deserve.
Note:
As of now (3/16/26 11:22 am EST), the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (house) shows 26,287 open cases for missing persons. You can also look up a lot of statistics through the National Crime Information Center (NCIC). website.
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This post was Previously published at medium.com.
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Photo credit: Tanja Tepavac at Unsplash
