Missing Person Photos
A missing person is a person who has disappeared and whose status as alive or dead cannot be confirmed as their location and condition are unknown. A person may go missing through a voluntary disappearance, or else due to an accident, crime, death in a location where they cannot be found (such as at sea), or many other reasons. In most parts of the world, a missing person will usually be found quickly. While criminal abductions are some of the most widely reported missing person cases, these account for only 2 to 5 percent of missing children in Europe.
By contrast, some missing person cases remain unresolved for many years. Laws related to these cases are often complex since, in many jurisdictions, relatives and third parties may not deal with a person's assets until their death is considered proven by law and a formal death certificate issued. The situation, uncertainties, and lack of closure or a funeral resulting when a person goes missing may be extremely painful with long-lasting effects on family and friends.
A number of organizations seek to connect, share best practices, and disseminate information and images of missing children to improve the effectiveness of missing children investigations, including the International Commission on Missing Persons, the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), as well as national organizations, including the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in the US, Missing People in the UK, Child Focus in Belgium, and The Smile of the Child in Greece.
Resources for Missing Persons
According to current statistics, 4,000 people in the United States go missing every day.
Sometimes a child suddenly vanishes from the bus stop or the local park or even from their own yard or bedroom. Or a teenager doesn�t return home after a walk to the neighborhood grocery store or a bike ride or a party with friends.
Other times, an adult is mysteriously absent from their job or neighbors haven�t seen them for several days, and family and friends haven�t heard from them either.
Missing Person Photos
Carlee Jade Morse
Carlee, date, approximate 2010; Nicholas Cottrell; Justin Yoshikawa; Tina Lowe
Date Missing 08/20/2010
Missing From
Westland, Michigan
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Female
Race
White
Date of Birth 05/19/1994 (28)
Age 16 years old
Height and Weight 5'0, 90 pounds
Clothing/Jewelry Description Pajamas and no shoes or socks.
Medical Conditions Carlee has an unspecified medical condition and was under a doctor's care at the time of her disappearance.
Associated Vehicle(s) 1998 Ford Escort (accounted for)
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Brown hair, brown eyes. Carlee has a scar on her left side and a burn scar on the inside of her right ankle. Her ears are pierced.
Details of Disappearance Carlee was last seen in the 7000 block of west Bonnie in Westland, Michigan between midnight and 1:00 a.m. on August 20, 2010. She apparently left her apartment building to talk on her cellular phone, barefoot and wearing only her pajamas, never returned. She didn't take any belongings with her, including her money, purse or any extra clothes, and there's been no activity on her cellular phone since her disappearance.
In December 2010, four months after Carlee's disappearance, Nicholas Jay Cottrell and Justin Lee Yoshikawa confessed to killing her on the night she vanished. Both were charged with first-degree murder, which carries a sentence of life in prison without parole.
Cottrell's mother, Tina Marie Lowe, was charged with being an an accessory after the fact, a misdemeanor; investigators stated she knew about the murder and not only failed to inform police, but also interfered with the investigation. Photographs of Cottrell, Lowe and Yoshikawa are posted with this summary.
In January 2011, Cottrell struck a deal with prosecutors. He agreed to plead guilty to second-degree murder and testify against Yoshikawa, in exchange for a sentence of 25 to 50 years in prison.
Both murder defendants knew Carlee and Yoshikawa had dated her in the spring of 2010, but they had an acrimonious breakup during the summer and, according Cottrell, Yoshikawa decided to kill her as a result. He hid inside under some clothes in the backseat of Cottrell's 1998 Ford Escort and Cottrell got Carlee to come outside and invited her into the car to smoke marijuana. He drove her to an isolated spot, then Yoshikawa jumped out and strangled her with a dog leash.
Together, the two men dumped Carlee's body, wrapped in garbage bags, in a trash bin behind a red brick church about an hour or two south of Westland. Cottrell said he couldn't remember exactly where, because he was in shock and under the influence of drugs. He said he thought Yoshikawa planned to kill Carlee's mother as well, and that he had killed other people. He said he had wanted to go to the police with his information before, but didn't because he was afraid for his life.
In November 2011, during Yoshikawa's trial, Cottrell took the stand but then reneged on his plea agreement and refused to testify. He said his guilty plea had been coerced and he wanted to withdraw it.
The judge allowed the transcript of Cottrell's previous testimony to be read to the jury. Before the reading was finished, Yoshikawa pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and admitted Cottrell's statements about the crime were all true. He was sentenced to 35 to 70 years in prison.
Carlee's body has never been located. Some agencies classify her as a runaway, but foul play is suspected in her due to the circumstances involved.
Investigating Agency
Westland Police Department
734-722-9600
Other
The National Center For Missing and Exploited Children
NamUs
Click on Detroit
The Detroit Free Press
MyFox Detroit
The Detroit News Herald
The Belleville View
Facebook Page for Carlee Morse
Find Carlee
Carlee Morse's MySpace Page
Missing Person Photos
A missing person is a person who has disappeared and whose status as alive or dead cannot be confirmed as their location and condition are unknown. A person may go missing through a voluntary disappearance, or else due to an accident, crime, death in a location where they cannot be found (such as at sea), or many other reasons. In most parts of the world, a missing person will usually be found quickly. While criminal abductions are some of the most widely reported missing person cases, these account for only 2 to 5 percent of missing children in Europe.
By contrast, some missing person cases remain unresolved for many years. Laws related to these cases are often complex since, in many jurisdictions, relatives and third parties may not deal with a person's assets until their death is considered proven by law and a formal death certificate issued. The situation, uncertainties, and lack of closure or a funeral resulting when a person goes missing may be extremely painful with long-lasting effects on family and friends.
A number of organizations seek to connect, share best practices, and disseminate information and images of missing children to improve the effectiveness of missing children investigations, including the International Commission on Missing Persons, the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), as well as national organizations, including the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in the US, Missing People in the UK, Child Focus in Belgium, and The Smile of the Child in Greece.
Resources for Missing Persons
According to current statistics, 4,000 people in the United States go missing every day.
Sometimes a child suddenly vanishes from the bus stop or the local park or even from their own yard or bedroom. Or a teenager doesn�t return home after a walk to the neighborhood grocery store or a bike ride or a party with friends.
Other times, an adult is mysteriously absent from their job or neighbors haven�t seen them for several days, and family and friends haven�t heard from them either.
Missing Person Photos
