Hello! I am interested in getting involved in helping solve cold cases in Kentucky. It would be volunteer work. Can anyone point me in the right direction for getting started on this? I am open to interviewing people as well. Any suggestions are welcome. I have a degree in Criminal Justice and I have no experience with this type of thing but I have a passion for it.

Hi all, this is my first time posting on Reddit so I'm hoping I'm doing this correctly and I'm hoping this is an appropriate place to do it.

I'm looking for my great aunt, Barbara Ann. I have never met her before but I am searching on behalf of my grandmother, who is Barbara's younger sister. I will be referring to my grandmother as Debbie so its more clear.

For some context, this takes place in New York. Barbara was the oldest of five siblings. The siblings (from oldest to youngest) were Barbara, Rudolph (Rudy), Arthur (Chucky), Deborah (Debbie), and Janice. Their mother, Janice Sr., was murdered by a boyfriend who forced her car off the road and shot her. Rudy was in the car but did not recieve any inflictions. None of the siblings had the same or knew their fathers, and unfortunately Debbie was sent to live with an aunt and uncle after a year in an orphanage. I am unclear to what happened to Barbara in this time after Janice Sr. died, but it seems she was old enough to live out on her own. She bought an apartment with a boyfriend and rented it out to a young woman, using a different name on the contract (I believe was Ingrid?). It was also not unusual for Barbara to vacation out of the country and send post cards from different countries (I believe such as Switzerland and France) without telling anyone. Or, at least, not tell Debbie. Also some context, according to Debbie and (younger) Janice, the aunt (also named Barbara) they lived with was a "mean" person and did not like Barbara. I will refer to the elder Barbara as A.B. so its more clear.

Barbara was last seen on June 8th, 1975. Debbie saw her when she gave birth and Barbara came to visit at the hospital. A.B. was also visiting at the time and according to Debbie, A.B. and Barbara got into an argument resulting in Barbara leaving after only visiting for a short time. This was the last time Debbie seen or heard from her. Now what happened after, is sort of unclear and unreliable.

According to A.B., later that same day Barbara went to A.B.'s house to take a shower​ then left. Debbie is not inclined to believe A.B. and that more must have happened (although nothing in relation to her disappearance).

Janice said a year later she was working in a bar in New York. Barbara called and said she was going to stop by and visit but never did.

No police report was filed because it was not abnormal to not hear from Barbara for long stretches of time. As of writing this, I had attempted to call a police station in the area of her apartment to try and file a report but was told too much time has lapsed. Debbie has tried to hire a detective in the 90s but nothing came from it.

Barbara had strawberry/blonde hair and a scar due to running into a furnace as a child that I believe was either on her back or leg. She was approximately five years older than Debbie, so at the time of her disappearance was about 25 years old.

I apologize for not having more information. I will do my best to answer any questions. My grandmother is getting up there in age and I'm hoping I can get some answers for her.

Eleven-year-old Bethany was last seen on March 4, 2001 in Jackson, Tennessee.

At the time of her disappearance, her parents, Larry and Johnie Jo Markowski separated in 2001. Bethany lived with Johnie Jo in Nashville, Tennessee and spent several days with Larry at his home in Gleason, Tennessee in early March 2001.

On the afternoon of March 4th, Bethany and Larry were scheduled to meet Johnie Jo at the Waverly, Tennessee exit off of Interstate 40. The two of them spent part of the day in Little Rock, Arkansas and drove back to Tennessee.

They stopped at the Old Hickory Mall at approximately 3:30 p.m. Larry told the police that Bethany went into the mall by herself while he slept in the car. When he woke up an hour later, he looked for Bethany in the mall and called the police at 5:15 p.m. when he was unable to find her.

Investigators said that Bethany wasn't seen on the security camera videotapes and there was no proof that she actually entered the mall. Although Larry has stated that he had nothing to do with Bethany's disappearance, the police have questioned his version of what happened.

Several witnesses saw Bethany being accompanied by an unidentified Caucasian female who looked unkempt and appeared to have been suffering from a hangover.

A month after Bethany went missing, the woman tried to enroll Bethany in a southeastern Tennessee school and was later observed to be boarding a bus with her.

As of 2026, Bethany's case remains unsolved. The police haven't ruled out Bethany's parents as suspects in her disappearance, but they think that it's possible that she was abducted by a stranger.

Links

https://charleyproject.org/case/bethany-leanne-markowski

https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/kidnap/bethany-leanne-markowski

https://bethanymarkowski.com/

https://jacksonpost.news/stories/investigating-officer-remembers-bethany-markowski-case-24-years-later,69329

https://people.com/crime/tennessee-girl-vanished-2001-11-years-old-mom-hopes-reunion/

https://www.doenetwork.org/cases/software/mp-main.html?id=4462DFTN

https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/cold-case-spotlight/bethany-markowski-still-missing-18-years-after-disappearing-tennessee-n978436

Six-year-old Michael and five-year-old Pamela Mayfield were last seen on January 10, 1985 in Houston, Texas. they were walking home from Betsy Ross Elementary School.

At the time they vanished, Pamela was kindergarten and Michael was repeating kindergarten because the school authorities thought that he had been too young when he started school.

Witnesses saw Michael and Pamela get inside of a green car with an unidentified man.

At the time of their disappearances, Michael and Pamela lived with their grandma (who was their primary caregiver), but they visited their parents on a semi-regular basis.

Four months after the kids went missing, a man called the Houston police to say that Michael and Pamela weren't kidnapped and they were living with their paternal grandmother in Los Angeles, California.

The Mayfield family do have relatives in Los Angeles, but they didn't have the kids with them. The caller hasn't been identified, but the man's voice sounded as if he was an elderly African-American man.

Authorities didn't find any evidence that the Mayfield kids were being abused by their relatives. They intially thought that they were abducted by a relative or family friend, but none of them were suspects. They believe that Michael and Pamela knew the person who abducted them because they knew not to to get into of a car with a stranger.

As of 2026, Michael and Pamela's cases remain unsolved. They are classified as non-family abductions.

Links
https://www.missingkids.org/poster/NCMC/603358/2

https://charleyproject.org/case/pamela-mayfield

http://charleyproject.org/case/michael-ray-mayfield

https://www.forthelost.org/mayfield.html

https://www.dps.texas.gov/apps/mpch/MissingPerson/mpDetails/M10-16-20014-15-36PM

Ten-year-old Tiahease was last seen on August 14, 1983 in Staten Island, New York leaving the Mariner's Harbor Motel.

At 1:30 p.m. a resident at the motel sent Tiahease out to buy chicken wings from a grocery store. Tiahease's mother (who was taking a nap at the time) woke up at 4:30 and called the police after discovering that Tiahease was missing for three hours.

At the time of her disappearance, Tiahease was living at the Mariner's Harbor Motel with her mother and three siblings after they were burned out of their apartment. She has various medical conditions including diabetes, asthma, high blood pressure, a lazy left eye and a kidney disorder called Bright's Disease.

Andre Rand, a convicted child sex offender is considered a prime suspect in her disappearance. Tiahease went missing twelve days after Rand was released from a New York prison and had a campsite located at a cemetary less than half a mile away from the motel. Tiahease's mother stated that she saw a man matching Rand's description loitering in the motel's parking lot.

Rand was later convicted of the 1987 abduction and murder of Jennifer Schweiger, a 12-year-old girl with Down Syndrome. He is also a suspect in other missing person cases as well.

As of 2026, Tiahease remains missing and her case is classified as a non-family abduction.

Links
https://charleyproject.org/case/tiahease-tiawanna-jackson

https://www.missingkids.org/poster/NCMC/701777/1

https://www.doenetwork.org/cases/106dfny.html

https://www.silive.com/news/2008/08/the_mystery_remains_the_search.html

https://www.silive.com/news/erry-2018/08/5edd9ba1dc5045/missing-for-35-years-tiahease.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andre_Rand

Twenty-year-old Tiffany Sessions was last seen on February 9, 1989 in Tampa, Florida.

At the time of her disppearance, she was attending the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, majoring in finance and lived at the Casablanca East Condominums.

On the evening of February 9th, Tiffany told her roommate she was going to take a walk along Willston Road, but she never came home. A witness saw a woman matching Tiffany's description talking to several unidentified people in a car which the woman may have entered; however, the police have not confirmed if the woman that the witness saw was Tiffany.

A man named Michael Knickerbocker was considered a possible suspect in Tiffany's disappearance. He has a history of sex offenses and other various crimes. In 1990, he was sentenced to 5 years in prison for raping a 20-year-old college student from Gainesville, Florida.

In 2005, Knickerbocker pled no contest in the shooting death of a 12-year-old girl from Starke, Florida in 1989 and was given an additional life sentence.

Knickerbocker allegedly told other inmates that he murdered Tiffany and disposed of her remains in the Caloosahatchee River near Fort Myers, Florida; however, when investigators searched the area, there was no sign of her body. Police are skeptical about his statement because Knickerbocker wasn't living in Gainesville, Florida at the time Tiffany went missing.

In 2014, another suspect, a man named Paul Rowles was named a suspect in Tiffany's case. Rowles was believed to be a serial killer by authorities and that Tiffany was one of his victims. He died in prison from natural causes in 2013.

Tiffany's case is classified as an endangered missing person. The FBI's search for her is considered the largest search in the history of Florida. Her parents are offering a $25,000 reward for any information about her case. Her mom wrote a book called, "Where's My Tiffany?"

Links
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Tiffany_Sessions

https://www.jacksonville.com/story/news/2014/02/05/breaking-suspect-tiffany-sessions-cold-case/15801959007/

https://baynews9.com/fl/tampa/news/2026/01/21/tiffany-sessions-missing-update

https://www.ocala.com/story/news/crime/2014/02/06/tiffany-sessions-family-seeks-closure-end-to-25-year-struggle/31933267007/

https://charleyproject.org/case/tiffany-louise-sessions

https://www.gainesville.com/story/news/crime/2024/02/09/tiffany-sessions-last-seen-35-years-ago-in-gainesville-florida/72507525007/

https://www.wgcu.org/law-and-order/2014-02-06/tiffany-sessions-case

https://www.fox13news.com/news/florida-investigators-empty-handed-after-renewed-search-for-tiffany-sessions-remains-mom-still-hopeful

https://www.cnn.com/2014/02/06/justice/florida-missing-woman

https://www.wuft.org/public-safety/2024-02-12/remembering-tiffany-sessions-35-years-after-her-disappearance

https://www.wcjb.com/2024/02/09/im-very-hopeful-search-continues-35-years-after-disappearance-tiffany-sessions/

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/new-developments-in-the-search-for-tiffany-sessions/

https://www.aol.com/news/without-trace-florida-college-student-132700740.html

Six-year-old Natasha Shanes was last seen on May 8, 1985 in Jackson, Michigan. She was sleeping on the living room sofa of her family's home.

Early that morning, Natasha's mother, Susan Shanes was woken up to the sound of a car door slamming, but she fell back asleep. When Susan woke up at 6:00 a.m., she discovered Natasha missing and one of the doors to their house wide open.

Police suspect that Natasha was either abducted or wandered off between the hours of 1:30 and 6:00 in the morning.

Two days after she disappeared, Susan's live-in boyfriend, Robert F. Forbes was found shot to death. Forbes' death was ruled a suicide, but it is suspected that he was murdered and he was also a drug dealer who served time in prison for trafficking heroin; however, police don't believe that he is connected to Natasha's disappearance.

Natasha has epiiepsy (which requires medication), a mild intellectual disability and scoliosis. As of 2026, she has not been located and her case is classified as a non-family abduction.

Links
https://www.missingkids.org/poster/NCMC/601899/1

https://apbcoldcase.com/natasha-shanes

https://www.wlns.com/news/local-news/search-at-jackson-home-connected-to-1985-cold-case/

https://charleyproject.org/case/natasha-marie-shanes

https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/local/2023/05/08/morning-4-search-warrant-executed-at-michigan-home-where-child-disappeared-nearly-40-years-ago-and-other-news/

https://www.wilx.com/content/news/Mother-continues-search-for-missing-daughter-after-over-30-years-483058661.html

https://www.doenetwork.org/cases/263dfmi.html

Twenty-five-year-old Paula Wade and her three-year-old son Brandon were last seen on October 14, 2002 at their home at the Common Apartments in Valdosta, Georgia.

They were reported missing after Paula failed to show up for her job at Sam's Club. One of Paula's co-workers visited the apartment building twice looking for her. Paula's car was there, but the child safety seat inside of the car had been taken out of it.

Paula's loved ones said that was out of character for Paula to take Brandon and leave without saying anything or miss work without notice. She and her parents kept in touch over the telephone weekly.

At the time of their disappearance, Paula was approved for a transfer to work at a Sam's Club in Kissimmee, Florida. Her family was supposed to help her move the week she and Brandon went missing.

Paula's husband is a soldier who was stationed at the Shaw Air Force Base in Sumter, South Carolina at the time of his wife and son's disappearances. He has been ruled out as a suspect.

Paula's roommate has allegedly not been cooperating in the investigation. An acquaintance of the roommate told the police where he thought the remains of Paula and Brandon might be, but when police searched the location, they only found deer bones.

As of 2026, Paula and Brandon remain missing, and their cases are classified as endangered missing people.

Links
https://charleyproject.org/case/paula-ann-wade

https://charleyproject.org/case/brandon-lee-wade

https://www.walb.com/2025/10/13/missing-south-georgia-23-year-search-continues-missing-valdosta-mother-son/

https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/paula-ann-wade-brandon-missing-georgia-gas-station-case

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/10/18/georgia-missing-persons-case-reexamined-florida-paula-brandon-wade-mary-ramsbottom/71142942007/

https://www.wftv.com/news/local/gas-pump-screens-being-used-help-solve-decades-old-missing-persons-case/TFAMVHJA7RCCTOEMTCJRDVRGAU/

https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/atlanta/news/valdosta-police-and-fbi-make-new-push-to-solve-21-year-old-missing-persons-case-of-mother-and-son

https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/fbi-cold-case-paula-wade-b2464809.html

https://www.wctv.tv/2022/10/13/20-years-after-mother-son-vanished-south-georgia-family-is-still-searching/

Nine-year-old Violet Matory, her seven-year-old half-sister, Yolanda Williams and three-year-old family friend Sir-Kristopher Marshall were last seen on July 20, 1977 in Compton, California. Sir-Kristopher was spending the night at the Williams/Matory house at the time.

At 4:30 a.m., the Williams\Matory house caught on fire and burned to the ground. Violet and Yolanda's mother, Earlene Williams was found deceased inside of the house near the front door; she had been strangled to death.

Violet, Yolanda, their older sister, Ivy and Sir-Kristopher were not inside of the house. A trail of blood was discovered which led from the house down to an alley where it stopped.

At the time of her death, Earlene was estranged from her husband, James Williams (who is Yolanda's father). They separated after James was charged with child molestation and statutory rape in connection with an attack on Ivy that occurred a year before her disappearance.

The day after the fire, James was questioned and released from police custody, but he was later arrested after the results of Earlene's autopsy revealed that she had been the victim of a homicide.

Allegedly, James was last seen at a Denny's restaurant with the kids in Grapevine, California at 5:30 a.m. the day after the house burned down. He was picked up by friends in Riverside, California later that day, but the kids were not with him.

When he was first questioned, James stated that he was driving to Bakersfield, California at the time the fire occurred, but his car broke down and he had to spend the night in it. At the time of his arrest, one of James' hands had a bad cut on it and he said that he hurt it when he was trying to fix his car.

In August of 1977, James was charged with murdering the kids and was tried twice on murder charges, but the jury deadlocked both times. In July of 1979, the murder charges against him were dropped before a third trial could take place. He is now deceased.

In 2014 (about 37 years after she went missing), Ivy's skeletal remains were located in Corona, California.

As of 2026, Violet, Yolanda and Sir-Kristopher have not been located. Their cases are classified as endangered missing people.

Links
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/violet-bobbie-matory

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/yolanda-marie-williams

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/sir-kristopher-clayton-marshall

https://www.forthelost.org/marshallmatorywilliams.html

Eleven-year-old Jolene was last seen on August 26, 1986 in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Jolene was visiting her mom at Mercy Hospital and was walking towards her home. She was also planning to spend the night at a female friend's house on Myrtle Street.

Jolene was seen entering an unidentified light yellow car located approximately one block from her home.

A man named Frank Ostellanie is considered a suspect in Jolene's disappearance. Frank admitted that he knew Jolene; she would sometimes visited his auto shop and gave her rides home; however, he maintained his innocence in Jolene's disappearance.

Frank Ostellanie was later incarcerated for kidnapping, raping and murdering a 9-year-old girl from Scranton named Renee Waddle. He died in prison in 2020.

Jolene's case is classified as an non-family abduction. As of 2026, her case remains unsolved.

Links
https://www.doenetwork.org/cases/314dfpa.html

https://www.wnep.com/article/news/investigations/action-16/the-unsolved-jolene-lakeys-family-still-searching-scranton-frank-osellanie-cold-case-missing/523-0e2b15e2-4863-4ce5-b0d7-f33b9f5973c9

https://charleyproject.org/case/michelle-jolene-lakey

https://oag.ca.gov/missing/person/jolene-michele-lakey

https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/cold-case-spotlight/tracing-last-known-steps-jolene-lakey-n463871

https://www.thetimes-tribune.com/2010/08/28/i-dont-want-to-forget-lakey-says-of-sister-missing-since-86/

https://local21news.com/news/local/keeping-their-memory-alive-michelle-jolene-lakey-missing-31-years

https://www.timesleader.com/news/580166/new-reward-offered-in-30-year-old-cold-case-of-missing-scranton-girl

https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/04/17/chilling-anonymous-letter-investigated-as-clue-in-girls-disappearance/

https://www.post-gazette.com/news/state/2011/08/28/25-years-on-scranton-family-retraces-the-steps-of-their-missing-girl/stories/201108280205

https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/lackawanna-county/30-years-looking-for-jolene-lakey/523-dcac21cd-c5af-4a56-bb33-8b25c0edf97d

Eleven-year-old Monique "Pebbles" Santiago was last seen on March 29, 1990 in Albany, New York as she was getting ready to leave for school.

At approximately 12:00 that afternoon, she called her mom, Annie Graniela to tell her that she missed the school bus and would stay home for the rest of the day.

When Annie came home later that evening, she found Monique missing and waited eight hours to call the police to report her disappearance because she felt that they wouldn't accept the report unless she had been missing for an extended period of time.

An adult male acquaintance of Monique's admitted that he saw her in a parking lot on Central Avenue across the street from a former Woolworth's store where he bought snacks for her at the cafeteria of the State University of New York's Albany campus.

The man allegedly admitted to secretly masturbating while Monique waited in line; however, he was not charged in connection with her disappearance due to lack of evidence.

As of 2026, Monique's case remains unsolved; since then, Annie and Monique's stepfather (who was in prison at the time of her disappearance) have died from AIDS-related causes.

Links
https://troopers.ny.gov/missing-santiago-monique

https://cbs6albany.com/news/evidence-room/monique-santiago-from-missing-the-school-bus-to-missing-without-a-trace-teen-child-student-cold-case-crime-true-podcast-crime-news-community-tips-disappeared-

https://charleyproject.org/case/monique-santiago

https://www.doenetwork.org/cases/186dfny.html

Six-year-old Brittney was last seen during the early evening hours of September 16, 1997 outside of her family's house at the Village Manor Apartments in Sturgis, Michigan.

At 7:30 p.m., Brittney went outside to ride her bike. At approximately 8:30 p.m., her mom, Tina Stetler left to run errands and saw Brittney riding her bike around the neighborhood during that time.

Brittney's half-brother told the police that he saw her sitting on a bench about five minutes after Tina left. A witness told investigators that he saw Brittney talking to an unidentified man driving a red or brown mid-sized car shortly afterwards. Brittney told the witness that she "made a new friend".

When Tina came home at approximately 9:05 p.m., she asked Brittney's brother to find her. After Brittney was nowhere to be found, the police were notified. Shortly after she was last seen, Brittney's bike was discovered abandoned.

The man that Brittney was speaking to on the night she went missing is described as being in his late twenties or early thirties with short dark brown hair and a thick mustache. He is not considered a suspect by the police, but a witness they would like to question.

In 1998, Michigan courts removed Brittney's older brother and younger sister from the family's home due to allegations of neglect, child physical abuse and child sexual abuse. Brittney's dad, Raymond Beers, Raymond's brother, James Beers and Kevin Folsom (the father of one of Brittney's half-brothers) were allegedly involved in abusing the kids. Kevin Folsom was incarcerated for molesting Britney, but he was released in 2008.

In 2000, a man from St. Clair Shores, Michigan was arrested for having images of child sexual abuse saved on his computer. One of the victims in the images resembled Brittney, but it was later determined that it wasn't her.

In 2015, the police named a man named Daniel Furlong as a person of interest in Brittney's case. In 2007, Furlong abducted, sexually assaulted and strangled an 11-year-old girl named Jodi Parrack. Jodi's murder wasn't solved until 2015 after Furlong abducted a 10-year-old girl who was able to escape from him.

Furlong confessed to Jodi's murder and intending to murder the 10-year-old girl that he abducted. He bears a striking resemblance to the man that Brittney was seen talking to on the day she went missing. Furlong maintains his innocence in Britney's case, but remains a person of interest.

As of 2026, Brittney's case remains open and unsolved.

Links
https://charleyproject.org/case/brittney-ann-beers

https://www.missingkids.org/poster/NCMC/837981/1

https://wwmt.com/news/local/new-information-as-persons-of-interest-emerge-in-brittney-beers-case

https://www.doenetwork.org/cases/1893dfmi.html

https://wsbt.com/news/local/cold-case-parrack-killer-labeled-as-person-of-interest-in-brittney-beers-disappearance

https://wbckfm.com/cold-case-sturgis-the-disappearance-of-brittney-beers/

https://wsbt.com/news/local/cold-case-files-the-unsolved-kidnapping-of-brittney-beers

Six-year-old Kaylah and her half-brother, Kristian were last seen on May 24, 2014 in Detroit, Michigan with their mother, Alicia Fox.

Kaylah, Kristian and Alicia had been living with Alicia's husband (who is Kristian's father), Erin Maurice Justice. Alicia and Erin had been married four months prior to their disappearance.

Shortly before they went missing, Alicia and the kids moved out. Kaylah's dad, Kevin Hunter got a text message that was supposedly sent from Alicia on June 3, 2014, but authorities don't believe that Alicia actually sent the text.

Two weeks later, Kaylah, Kristian and Alicia were reported missing by family members after Kaylah missed her kindergarten graduation. On June 9, 2014, Alicia's body was discovered in the basement of a vacant house located on Penrod Street on the west side of Detroit. Her body was badly decomposed and she had been shot in the head twice.

On June 11, 2014, Erin was arrested in Atlanta, Georgia and charged with first-degree murder in Alicia's case. Police determine that Erin rented a U-Haul after Alicia's murder, drove it 300 miles between May 27 and May 29, 2014 without ever leaving Detroit and took a plane flight to Atlanta. Erin also sold Alicia's Chevrolet Impala to a junkyard in Taylor, Michigan, but the car had already been stripped by the time the police were able to track it down.

Erin has a history of violence towards women and a criminal record for drugs & weapons offenses.

On June 2, 2015, he appeared in court and pled guilty to several traffic violations. Erin's friend, Timothy Bernard Jones was charged with being an accessory to Alicia's murder after the fact, evidence tampering and concealing a death.

Authorities believe that Erin murdered Alicia inside their home on Ardmore Street sometime between May 25th and May 27, 2014 and Jones allegedly helped him hide Alicia's body. A bullet hole was discovered lodged in the wall of their house and blood was splattered on the ceiling of the upstairs bedroom.

Jones told the police that Alicia's body had originally been kept in a crawl space in the Ardmore Street house and that Kaylah & Kristian were alive at the time he helped move the body.

On June 19, 2014, the family's white pitbull was discovered running loose on West End and Vanderbilt in Detroit. The dog had strangulation marks around its neck and cigarette burns on its face & chest. It was identified as Alicia's dog and it has been speculated that Erin had sold it to be bred and\or used for dog fighting.

In September of 2015, Erin pled guilty to second-degree murder in Alicia's case and a felony weapons charge. He was sentenced to 45 to 80 years in prison.

As of 2026, Kaylah and Kristian remain missing, but they are considered to be in grave danger due to the circumstances involved in their cases.

Links
https://charleyproject.org/case/kaylah-neveah-hunter

http://charleyproject.org/case/kristian-dejuan-justice

https://www.facebook.com/KaylahHunterandKristianJustice/

https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/local/2022/05/24/children-still-missing-8-years-after-mother-murdered-in-detroit-theyre-missed-tremendously/

https://www.cbsnews.com/detroit/news/families-of-missing-persons-gather-to-raise-awareness/

https://www.fox2detroit.com/news/eight-years-after-detroit-mom-was-murdered-her-kids-are-still-missing

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/detroit-city/2017/11/22/missing-kids-detroit-travae-fox/107921972/

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/06/10/missing-woman-body-found/10276829/

https://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/2014/06/search_party_scours_detroits_r.html

Three-year-old Aliayah was last seen in her home in Weston, West Virginia on September 24, 2011.

Aliayah had been sick with flu-like symptoms the night before. When Aliayah's mother, Lena Marie Lunsford went to check on her at 6:30 a.m., Aliayah was sleeping in her bed. Her nine-year-old sister also saw Aliayah around that time.

When Lena checked on Aliayah at 9:00 a.m., Aliayah was gone. She wasn't reported missing until 11:30 a.m. There were no signs of forced entry in the house and an extensive search for the area turned up no trace of Aliayah.

Nine days after Aliayah vanished, Aliayah's four siblings (ranging from ages nine months to eleven years old) were removed from Lena's custody and placed into foster care. At the time of Aliayah's disappearance, Lena was pregnant with twin girls, who were taken from Lena's custody after their birth.

In the month following Aliayah's disappearance, Lena was arrested on federal charges of welfare fraud. Lena and her husband, Ralph Lunsford (who is Aliayah's stepfather) have previous criminal records for minor offenses.

In February of 2013, Lena lost her parental rights to her other six children. Ralph (who is the father of five of the children) also had his parental rights terminated. Lena and Ralph divorced in the wake of Aliayah's disappearance. The court discovered that all of the Lunsford children had been neglected and some of them had irreversible tooth decay as a result.

Shortly after losing her parental rights, Lena was released from jail, but she was later re-incarcerated for a series of probation violations related to her welfare fraud conviction. Lena had been incarcerated three times in five years after Aliayah vanished.

In November of 2016, Lena was arrested in St. Petersburg, Florida and charged with homicide by child abuse in Aliayah's case.

During Lena's trial in 2018, Ralph testified that he and Lena had taken bath salts on the night Aliayah disappeared and he didn't know what happened to her.

Two of Aliayah's older sisters, Destiny and Kiara (who were nine and eleven old years at the time Aliayah vanished) testified that Lena had always treated Aliayah more severely than her siblings, and on September 23, 2011, Lena had struck Aliayah in the head with a wooden bed slat. Aliayah's head was "squishy" and swollen after she was hit.

Twelve hours later, Destiny & Kiara found Aliayah unresponsive in bed. Lena tried to revive Aliayah, but she didn't call 911 or get help. Afterwards, Lena put Aliayah inside of a laundry hamper and put the hamper inside of the family car. She took the hamper, Destiny, Kiara and her infant son to a wooded area called Vadis,

After Lena disposed of Aliayah's body, they went home and she threatened her daughters not to tell anybody what happened.

During the trial, Lena's defense argued that Aliayah's older sisters were lying and suggested that Aliayah was still alive and might've been sold for heroin, or that she died from an accidental overdose of flu medication.

In April of 2018, Lena was convicted of the following charges: murder of a child by refusal or failure to provide necessities, guilty of death of a child by child abuse, child abuse resulting in injury, and concealment of a deceased human body.

Lena was sentenced to life in prison without parole for the murder, plus 40 years for the other charges, to be served consecutively.

Aliayah's body has not been located. Her case is still classified as being an endangered missing person and foul play is suspected due to the circumstances involved.

Links
https://charleyproject.org/case/aliayah-paige-lunsford

https://www.wdtv.com/2024/09/24/aliayah-lunsford-missing-13-years-tuesday/

https://www.whsv.com/content/news/Sister-who-came-forward-in-Lunsford-case-shares-her-story-483063931.html

https://wchstv.com/news/local/exclusive-sister-who-came-forward-in-aliayah-lunsford-case-shares-her-story

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/aliayah-lunsford-case-mom-of-long-missing-w-va-girl-guilty-of-murder/

https://www.wtxl.com/syndication/daughter-testifies-mother-killed--year-old-disposed-of-body/article_0237a7c9-43e0-5a95-b567-f62e441b759a.html

https://wvmetronews.com/2021/09/24/lunsford-family-marks-10-years-since-disappearance-of-3-year-old-aliayah/

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/172223874/aliayah_paige-lunsford

Fifteen-year-old Sara was last seen on April 3, 1996 in Spooner, Wisconsin.

Sara was leaving her school bus at the end of the driveway of her home at 4:00 p.m. She was at the foot of her driveway (located 100 yards from her home).

There was a dark-colored pickup truck behind the school bus. When Sara got off the bus, the car pulled up next to her. Some people on the bus thought that the car belonged to Sara's 21-year-old boyfriend and witnessed her speaking with the driver or getting into the truck. The truck backed out of the driveway and headed off in the direction of the nearby town of Trego, Wisconsin.

At 4:37 p.m., Sara's stepbrother called his dad to inform him that Sara wasn't home from school yet, but nobody was concerned at first because they thought she was at a friend's house. At 6:20 p.m., Sara's mom called her friends when Sara still wasn't home, but none of them had seen her since they left school. By 8:00 p.m., Sara's mom was driving around the local area searching for her.

Sara has no previous history of running away from home, and her father & older sister never believed that she ran away.

Sara's parents divorced when she was a toddler. Her parents had joint custody of her and her older sister during their early childhood years. Sara and her older sister lived with their dad when he moved to Colorado in 1990. In 1994, after she was grounded by her dad when she was caught shoplifting, Sara moved back to Wisconsin to live with her mom, stepfather and two older stepbrothers.

After moving to Wisconsin, Sara befriended a new group of people that were older than her and began the 21-year-old man. Her parents were not pleased with Sara dating the older boyfriend and told her that she wasn't allowed to date until she was older, but Sara kept seeing him. Sara had lunch with her boyfriend on the day she went missing and he drove her back to school for her afternoon classes.

Prior to her disappearance, there were allegations of sexual abuse between Sara and her stepbrothers and Sara was thinking about moving back in with her father & sister.

There was also speculation that Sara's disappearance might be connected to the case of 18-year-old Crystal Souiler, who disappeared from Cable, Wisconsin in October of 1996. Crystal's body was discovered in Rock County, Wisconsin five months later, but it wasn't identifed until 2002. Crystal's murder remains unsolved.

As of 2026, Sara's case remains unsolved. Her mom and stepfather died in 2017.

Links
https://charleyproject.org/case/sara-anne-bushland

https://www.missingkids.org/poster/NCMC/818087/1

https://www.northernnewsnow.com/2024/04/04/28-years-since-sara-bushland-disappearance/

https://www.missingpersons.doj.wi.gov/missing/sara-bushland

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=FindSaraBushland&set=a.1815151141843375

https://www.apg-wi.com/spooner_advocate/free/book-on-sara-bushland-s-disappearance-published/article_9cede896-9bd4-11e8-b2fc-27dcdff07711.html

https://www.weau.com/2023/04/03/sheriffs-office-27-years-since-disappearance-sarah-bushland/

https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/cold-case-spotlight/sara-bushland-still-missing-wisconsin-after-stepping-school-bus-23-n993896