Free Republic

Everyone wondered about the little boy who panhandled into the night outside a 7-Eleven in West Rogers Park. The boy with the filthy clothes whose pants were cinched with a plastic shopping bag. The boy with the rotten front teeth, the speech impediment and the foul mouth who went door to door begging for food in shoes too big for his feet. Eli, as the boy called himself, always seemed adrift. Now authorities think they know why. State and federal investigators are trying to confirm whether Eli is really Tristen Alan Myers, a 6-year-old who disappeared in October 2000 from...

A 2 1/2 year old boy has been missing since 9:00 AM In New Mexico's Gila forest. He disappeared from the family's campsite and the best they could figure he was last seen 10 minutes before anyone realized he was gone. They have been searching since then on horseback and on foot. There is an Amber Alert because camped near them were two men who arrived late Friday evening and camped near the family's campsite and they left shortly after the family had realized the child was missing. They are driving a blue and silver Chevy PU. One man has...

<p>POINT ISABEL - The dismembered body of a woman discovered this morning on the muddy bayshore could be that of Laci Denise Peterson, the pregnant woman who vanished from her Modesto home on Christmas Eve, a police source told the Times.</p>

THE son of 'Comical Ali', the well known information minister for Saddam Hussein, who is currently working as a doctor in a Dublin hospital, does not know where his family is. Osama al-Sahhaf described his father, Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, who has not been seen since Tuesday, as a "good guy". The surgeon who works in Beaumont hospital has not seen his family in two years and hadn't spoken to them in the last six months. He added that he was unaware of the current whereabouts or circumstances of his family. Speaking about his father's political role, Dr Al-Sahhaf told 'The...

Missing, presumed dead The fate of many people - on both sides of the conflict - is still unclear 13 April 2003 The soldiers "I didn't receive any order from the beginning." An Iraqi colonel with the elite Republican Guard, who commanded a force of about 600 men, has revealed that his demoralised men fled from their units, without fear of punishment, as Allied bombs crashed on to their positions. The colonel, who joined other comrades changing back into civilian clothes to catch the bus home about a week before Baghdad was taken, said he had initially been ordered to...

21 Missing Tourists Sought in Sahara HASSANE MEFTAHI Associated Press ALGIERS, Algeria - Searchers using camels and helicopters equipped with heat-seeking sensors have scoured the Sahara Desert for 21 tourists, mostly Germans, who vanished in Algeria over the past six weeks. But the search effort has, so far, been in vain, and authorities cannot even say whether smugglers, Islamic insurgents or potentially devastating desert problems like empty gas tanks are to blame. Five groups of tourists - 16 Germans, four Swiss and a Dutch national - have disappeared in Algeria since the end of February. Most went missing near desert...

Linda Vester just announced the 2 missing Newsday Journalists called in and reported they are "safe" and making their way to Jordan. No other news (or relevant story link yet...)

Seven Italian journalists in Iraq lose contact with offices Fri Mar 28, 4:06 PM ET ROME - Seven Italian journalists in Iraq (news - web sites) fell out of contact with their offices Friday after being stopped at an Iraqi checkpoint in the southern city of Basra, reports said. An Italian state TV reporter said from Kuwait that two of the seven reporters had been arrested by Iraqi authorities, while the fate of the other five was unknown. The seven journalists — who all work for major Italian newspapers, including Milan's Corriere della Sera and Rome's Messaggero — were trying...

Three members of an ITV News team in southern Iraq are missing after coming under fire. They include correspondent Terry Lloyd, known to millions of viewers. ITN, which makes ITV News, issued the following statement: "An ITV News crew came under fire at Iman Anas, near Basra as they drove towards the city in two vehicles. "One of the crew, Daniel Demoustier was injured but was able to get to safety. "He was not able to see what happened to his colleagues, correspondent Terry Lloyd, Fred Nerac and Hussein Othman. At present they are still missing. "There were British and...

Texas Creates DNA Database To Identify Missing Persons Texas' new missing persons DNA database is generating a fresh sense of hope for people involved in the search for missing persons, including families worried about a missing loved one, detectives and medical examiners. The DNA Identity Lab at the University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth developed the database over the past two years and started accepting DNA samples Jan. 1, 2003. Its staff of forensic geneticists will use a direct link to the Federal Bureau of Investigation to expand the search beyond Texas' borders. The lab's forensic...

Please forgive the vanity, but my family is desperate for some FReeper help and prayers! My niece, Michelle Berry, left home for a walk at 4:30PM on Sunday, March 2, 2003. She's 14 years old, blonde hair, blue eyes, about 5' 2", between 115-120 pounds. She's a beautiful girl and will be noticed in a crowd. Michelle has run away before, but has always called or had a friend call for her. But this time, she left wearing flip flops and didn't take anything with her, no money, not her purse, nothing! Her friends, old boyfriends, etc have not...

Woman Supposedly Meeting Photographer Missing Foul Play Feared In DisappearanceWoman Supposedly Meeting Photographer Missing Foul Play Feared In Disappearance UPDATED: 9:47 a.m. PST February 20, 2003 LOS ANGELES -- Police asked for the public's help in finding a 21-year-old woman who disappeared on Saturday after saying she was going to meet a photographer in Beverly Hills who told her she had an unusual look. "A preliminary investigation disclosed that Kristine Louise Johnson was last seen leaving her residence in Santa Monica on Saturday afternoon," Lt. Frank Fabrega said Wednesday. "The circumstances behind her disappearance are suspicious in nature and a...

The brother and sister of missing Modesto woman Laci Peterson appeared on the "Today Show" Monday to talk about the continuing search and their feelings toward Laci's husband. Brent Rocha and Amy Rocha (pictured, right) said that they continue to struggle for answers as to what happened to Laci. "I think it has been a difficult process," Brent Rocha said. "We've taken it in phases. In the beginning, when she first went missing, I think friends and family just really focused on getting the word out. And then as time went by, I think that reality set in that the...

Patty Anne Browne just broke in and said 290 person plane my have crashed in SE Iran (close to Iraq) and is confirmed "missing".....developing....

MODESTO — Scott Peterson, whose pregnant wife, Laci, has been missing since late December, tried to sell the couple's Modesto, Calif., home, sources close to the investigation into her disappearance said. Peterson allegedly looked into selling the home, saying he had issues with it and didn't want Laci coming back to it. The deal to sell the home was scrapped about a week after Scott first began looking into it, according to a Sacramento television station. But Peterson, 30, reportedly is driving around town in a new truck these days. He traded in his missing wife's Range Rover SUV for...

KFI Radio broadcasters John Kobelt and Ken Chiampou reported at 5:45 P.M. on Friday that Longview, Washington police have completed a review of security tapes at Sinnett's Market Place where a store clerk claims to have waited on Laci Peterson, missing from Modesto, California since December 24th. The police report having seen no one resembling Mrs. Peterson on the tapes reviewed for a time period from December 24 through January. Most of the people seen on the tapes were identified as local residents. Police expressed interest in reinterviewing the clerk. The broadcast report included an interview with a news reporter...

Many of you may remember a thread posted in November, "Missing Adult, Help Needed, Crime in Progress?" It was a plea for help from the sister of Alice Donovan, 44, of Galivants Ferry, S.C. who was kidnapped and her car stolen from a Walmart parking lot by two escaped convicts. It was originally posted by Alice's sister on Timebomb 2000 and then posted here just hours after it happened, before LE was involved and days before the media picked up the story. The thread began as one of prayers and hope and trying to get information, to one of sadness...

This is the first time I've started a thread, (after 2+ years here) but I'm proud to do it and hope I don't mess it up. Many of you may remember a thread posted in November, "Missing Adult, Help Needed, Crime in Progress?" It was a plea for help from the sister of Alice Donovan, 44, of Galivants Ferry, S.C. who was kidnapped and her car stolen from a Walmart parking lot by two escaped convicts. It was originally posted by Alice's sister on Timebomb 2000 and then posted here just hours after it happened, before LE was involved and...

OAKLAND, Calif. -- With the clock ticking down to the one-month anniversary of Laci Peterson's disappearance, a former FBI profiler told KTVU Tuesday there are troubling questions that have arisen in the case. Talking with Mornings on 2, Candice Delong -- who worked on several cases for the FBI -- said some of the developments have piqued her interest. She said it was obvious that police long ago had decided that this was more than just a missing person case. "I would imagine they are considering it a crime," she said. "They had a spokesperson say last week that Scott...

BUBONIC PLAGUE SAMPLES MISSING The FBI is investigating the disappearance of 35 vials - some containing bubonic plague - that have gone missing from a laboratory in Texas. Officials stressed the missing bacteria could not be used as a weapon of mass destruction but that it could kill an individual. The vials went missing from Texas Technical University in Lubbock last night. Police said President Bush had been briefed. The FBI said it was unclear whether the vials had actually been stolen. Some are thought to contain the bacteria that can cause bubonic plague, but stressed that was not confirmed....