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
Shemaeah Nicole Gunnell
Shemaeah, date, approximate 1989; Age-progression to age 21 (date, approximate 2004); Alvie Copeland Kiles; Valerie Gunnell; Lecresha Kirklin
Date Missing 02/10/1989
Missing From
Yuma, Arizona
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Female
Race
Black
Date of Birth 11/06/1983 (38)
Age 5 years old
Height and Weight 4'0, 50 pounds
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics African-American female. Black hair, black eyes. Shemaeah has a birthmark behind her neck on the right side.
Details of Disappearance Shemaeah was last seen at her apartment on north 1st Avenue in Yuma, Arizona on February 10, 1989. She lived with her mother, Valerie Lorraine Gunnell, her nine-month-old sister, Lecresha Kirklin, and Valerie's boyfriend, Alvie Copeland Kiles, at the time. Photos of all three of them are posted with this summary.
Kiles had moved in with the family in January 1989, four months after his release from prison. He had served four years for attempted aggravated assault. He had a long-standing abuse problem with alcohol, cocaine and heroin. As per the requirements of his parole, he attended counseling and his parole officer thought his conduct was satisfactory. However, he continued to use drugs.
Kiles was seen by several individuals on February 10, driving Valerie's car. That afternoon, he told a neighbor he had killed Valerie and her daughters. He stated he killed Valerie in an argument because he had stolen her food stamps to buy cocaine, and he murdered her, then killed the children because they began crying and screaming after witnessing their mother's death.
Kiles took his neighbor to Valerie's apartment and showed her the body. Shamaeah and Lecresha were missing from the scene. He said he'd put their bodies in the Colorado River. Kiles made similar confessions to his mother and a family friend, saying he'd killed the two girls because "they could talk."
On February 11, the police went to the Gunnell residence and found Valerie's body wrapped in a blanket in the hallway. She had been beaten to death. There were indications of a struggle in Valerie's bedroom and blood all over the home, including two large pools of blood in the children's bedroom.
A week after the murders, Lecresha's body was found in an irrigation canal in Mexico. Like her mother, she had been beaten to death. Shemaeah's remains were never located, but her blood was found on a mattress in her family's apartment.
Kiles was convicted of murdering all three members of the Gunnell family and was sentenced to death. His conviction was later overturned on the grounds that he had an inadequate defense, but at his second trial he was convicted again of three counts of murder and two counts of child abuse in 2000.
He was ultimately sentenced to death for Valerie's murder and life in prison for Shemaeah and Lecresha's murders. Kiles is awaiting execution. He does not dispute that he committed the murders, but he is appealing his death sentence, saying the crimes were not premeditated. In 2009, he took his to the Arizona Supreme Court, which upheld the verdict and sentence.
Foul play is suspected in Shemaeah's due to the circumstances involved.
Investigating Agency
Yuma Police Department
928-783-4421
Other
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
The Yuma Sun
The Arizona Republic
The Deseret Morning News
USA Today
The Supreme Court of Arizona
NamUs
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
