Investigations into missing persons

On July 18, 2018, Mollie Cecilia Tibbets, a 20-year-old former cross-country runner and a student of psychology at the University of Iowa, left the home of her boyfriend’s brother for an evening jog. She was last seen at about 7.30pm that day and was reported missing by her family when she did not show up for work the following day.

Her last communication was with her boyfriend of three years who was out of town, for work. Her boyfriend was more than 200km away and he, indeed, told investigators that he received a message from her that evening.
The police initiated a massive hunt for Tibbets. A reward of $400,000 was offered for information leading to her safe return. Police received over 2,300 tips and conducted over 500 interviews during the course of the investigations. For nearly four weeks there was no news of Tibbets.

A lead
Cristhian Bahena Rivera, a 24-year-old immigrant from Mexico, became the target of the investigations after the investigators obtained footage from a nearby home surveillance camera, showing a Chevrolet Malibu driving back and forth in the area Tibbets was jogging. The car was linked to him.

Rivera confessed to investigators that he saw Tibbets as she was jogging and he got out of his car to run beside her. She, however, told him she would call the police if he continued to pursue her. This made him angry. He told the investigators that he blacked out at some point and could not remember what happened soon after. He further told the investigators that he realised he had put the woman in the trunk of his car and when he took her out, he saw blood on the side of her head.

On August 21, 2018, Rivera led investigators to a secluded location within a cornfield where Tibbet’s body was found. It is here, he said, that he left her body covered with corn leaves. Two days later, that is, on August 23, a medical examiner performed an autopsy on the body and recorded the cause of death as multiple sharp force injuries and the manner of death as homicide.

Charged
On August 22, 2018, Rivera was charged with first degree murder and on September 19, he pleaded not guilty to the charge. What happened to Tibbets is perhaps the worst outcome of a missing person investigation
A common misconception is that a person must be absent for at least 24 hours before being legally declared missing. Law enforcement officers agencies often stress the case should be reported as early as possible.

A person may go missing through a voluntary disappearance or else due to an accident, death or crime. Although criminal abductions are the most widely missing person cases reported, they account for less than 10 per cent of the cases worldwide.

Voluntary disappearance
In cases of voluntary disappearance, some people escape domestic abuse or may leave home to leave somewhere else under a new identity. Some people may be seized by government agencies in rouge States without the due process of the law.

This is referred to as forced disappearance. Some people have been sold into sexual or modern slavery and this has contributed to cases of missing persons. Rarely do people join a cult or religious organisation that requires no contact with the outside world.

Other causes
Missing persons may be victims of murder and their bodies disguised, destroyed or hidden. Some people may commit suicide in remote locations. Other people may die of natural causes or as a result of accidents far from home without identification. Deaths from natural causes or death from water, especially when the body is not recovered may also be reasons why people may go missing.
In most countries, the police are tasked with the investigation into missing persons. The police may, however, be joined by voluntary search and rescue teams or other teams with specialised training.

Defined
A missing person is a person who has disappeared and whose status as alive or dead cannot be confirmed as their location and fate are not known. A missing person is also defined as anyone whose whereabouts is unknown whatever the circumstances of the disappearance. They will be considered missing until located and their wellbeing or otherwise is established.

Some missing person cases are given wide media coverage with searchers turning to the public for assistance. The missing person’s photographs may be widely displayed and social media has been most useful in publicising the description of missing persons.

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