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
Sandra B. Bertolas
Bertolas, date, approximate 1988; Age-progression to an unknown age
Date Missing 04/24/1988
Missing From
West Allas, Wisconsin
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Female
Race
White
Date of Birth 06/29/1967 (55)
Age 20 years old
Height and Weight 5'6, 150 - 160 pounds
Clothing/Jewelry Description A blue tweed jacket and black pants. Carrying a large white purse.
Medical Conditions Bertolas was pregnant at the time of her disappearance.
Associated Vehicle(s) White car (accounted for)
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Brown hair, blue eyes. Bertolas's nickname is Sandy. She took great care with her appearance in 1988 and usually used makeup and hair products.
Details of Disappearance Bertolas was last seen sometime in 1988 at the Red Carpet Lanes bowling alley in the 10900 block of west Lapham Street in West Allis, Wisconsin. She was planning to confront her boyfriend; as she found out he had been seeing someone else and also that he had given her a false last name and home address.
Bertolas's boyfriend, who worked the 4:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. shift, called in sick the day of her disappearance. He later admitted he called her at least twice that day. Bertolas told people he had "begged" to see her, and when she said she couldn't afford the gas, he offered to pay for it. She finally agreed to meet him.
Bertolas has never been seen again. Her white car, which was her prized possession, was found abandoned in the parking lot of Red Carpet Lanes on April 27. No evidence as to her fate was located inside the car.
When authorities interviewed Bertolas's boyfriend, he said he didn't see her on the night of her disappearance, and that he had never given her a false name. He also said he had no idea she was pregnant, although Bertolas had told people she had told her boyfriend about her pregnancy. The boyfriend refused to be interviewed a second time and wouldn't cooperate any further with the investigation.
Dogs tracked Bertolas's scent to the Mount Olivet Cemetery in Milwaukee. Authorities later learned the cemetery caretaker was Bertolas's boyfriend's father, and that the boyfriend had also worked there before. A napkin was found in Bertolas's room with the address of the cemetery written on it.
Police believe foul play was involved in Bertolas's , possibly at the hands of her boyfriend, who now works as a firefighter. Prosecutors conducted a 21-month John Doe probe into the in 2002 and over fifty witnesses testified before a grand jury, but the probe concluded without any indictments being issued.
Bertolas, the youngest of eight children, resided with her parents in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin at the time of her disappearance. She was studied business and marketing at Waukesha County Technical College and worked-part time as a beautician at a Cost Cutters hair salon in 1988.
Her father died in 2010, but the rest of her family is still alive and hope she'll be found. Her loved ones believe she's deceased and have purchased a cemetery plot for her next to her father's grave.
Investigating Agency
Menomonee Falls Police Department
262-532-8700
Other
WISN 12
The Doe Network
Village of Menomonee Falls
Wisconsin Advocates for the Families of Missing People
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
NamUs
Wisconsin Clearinghouse for Missing and Exploited Children and Adults
Media Milwaukee
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
