Hundreds of thousands of people go missing every year.
In 2020, for example, more than 540,000 people were lost in the United States, including more than 340,000 minors, according to FBI data reported by USA Today.
Most are localized, but some cases remain shrouded in mystery for years.
The FBI created in May a list of 43 active cases of missing persons under the age of 21 that, according to the agency, need help from the public to unblock the investigation.
"We're just looking for new leads,"
said Siobhan Johnson, an FBI special agent and spokeswoman in Chicago, noting that the list is not exhaustive.
Among the 43 children and adolescents included in this list are the Hispanic girl Dulce María Alavez, who disappeared in New Jersey on September 16, 2019. Investigators recently published an image of what her face would look like now at 7 years old.
A Latino mother is still looking for her daughter who disappeared a year ago in a park in New Jersey
Aug. 31, 202002: 13
Her mother, Noema Alavez Pérez, took the girl to the park that day, along with her 3-year-old brother and other children.
He let her go to the playground with her brother and 10 minutes later
, according to her account, she found her son crying and no sign of Dulce María.
Also on the list are people who have been missing for decades, such
as Karla Rodríguez, who was 5 years old when she disappeared in Las Vegas, Nevada, in October 1999, and who at that time "spoke limited English," according to the FBI.
[More than 700 indigenous women disappeared in the same state as Gabby Petito in the last decade]
This is the image that projects what Karla Rodríguez would look like if she were 25 years old.
FBI
The search for missing minors extends to Mexico: there the FBI investigates the case of Joshua Keshaba Sierra García, who disappeared in Mexico City in 2003 when he was just 2 years old.
According to the FBI, García, a US national, was in the custody of relatives who had traveled to Mexico City for the child to be baptized when he was kidnapped.
His nanny was killed during the incident, according to federal authorities.
After a series of calls for ransom, a kidnapper was detained during a money delivery by Mexican authorities, but García has not been located.
This is how the FBI projects what Joshua Sierra García would look like at age 11.
[His trail was lost at the Miami airport: the search for a missing 23-year-old Colombian continues]
Thomas Lauth, who runs a missing persons agency in Indianapolis, told USA Today that social class and skin color play an important role in generating public interest in missing persons.
For this reason, he advises his clients to create GoFundMe pages, hold vigils, contact the media and be available for interviews to generate attention.
Other names on the FBI list of missing persons are:
Daniel Barter: He
was 4 years old when he disappeared in Perdido Bay, Alabama, on June 18, 1959.
William Ebeneezer Jones Jr.
- He was 3 years old when he disappeared in Vineland, New Jersey, on December 17, 1962.
Christine Marie Eastin
: She was 19 years old when she disappeared in Hayward, California, on January 18, 1971.
Margaret Ellen Fox: She
was 14 years old when she disappeared in Burlington, New Jersey, on June 24, 1974.
David Williams: He
was 12 and Steven Anderson 17 when they disappeared in Pemberton Township, New Jersey, on April 7, 1975.
Tammy Mahoney: She
was 19 years old when she disappeared in Oneida, New York, on May 8, 1981.
Anthonette Christine Cayedito: She
was 9 years old when she disappeared in Gallup, New Mexico, on April 6, 1986.
Tara Leigh Calico: She
was 19 years old when she disappeared in Valencia County, New Mexico, on September 20, 1988.
Ilene Beth Misheloff: She
was 13 years old when she disappeared in Dublin, California, on January 30, 1989.
Mark Himebaugh - He
was 11 years old when he disappeared in Del Haven, NJ, on November 25, 1991.
Crystal Ann Tymich: She
was 6 years old when she disappeared in South Los Angeles, California, on June 30, 1994.
Cayce Lynn McDaniel: She
was 14 years old when she disappeared in Milan, Tennessee, on August 16, 1996.
Kristen Modafferi: She
was 18 years old when she disappeared in San Francisco, California, on June 23, 1997.
Suzanne G. Lyall: She
was 19 years old when she disappeared from Albany, New York, on March 2, 1998.
Asha Jaquilla Degree - She
was 9 years old when she disappeared in Shelby, North Carolina, on February 14, 2000.
Steven Earl Kraft, Jr .: He
was 12 years old when he disappeared in Benton Township, Michigan, on February 15, 2001.
Bethany Leanne Markowski: She
was 11 years old when she disappeared on March 4, 2001. The location is undetermined.
2-month-old
Shausha Latine Henson
and
3-year-old
Shaina Ashley Kirkpatrick
disappeared while traveling to Sacramento, California on April 4, 2001.
Wesley Dale Morgan - He
was 2 years old when he disappeared in Clinton, Louisiana, on May 15, 2001.
Diamond Yvette Bradley: She
was 3
and Tionda Z. Bradley
10 when they disappeared in Chicago, Illinois on July 6, 2001.
Rachel Louise Cooke: She
was 19 years old when she disappeared in Georgetown, Texas, on January 10, 2002.
Alexis S. Patterson: She
was 7 years old when she disappeared in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on May 3, 2002.
Tabitha Danielle Tuders: She
was 13 years old when she disappeared in Nashville, Tennessee, on April 29, 2003.
Amber Elizabeth Cates: She
was 16 years old when she disappeared in Columbia, Tennessee, on April 11, 2004.
Ashley Summers was:
14 years old when she disappeared in Cleveland, Ohio, on July 7, 2007.
Kyron Richard Horman - He
was 7 years old when he disappeared from Portland, Oregon, on June 4, 2010.
Shanna Genelle Peoples: She
was 19 years old when she disappeared from Geneva, Alabama, on September 8, 2011
.
Keiosha Marie Felix: She
was 15 years old when she disappeared from Duson, Louisiana, on April 30, 2012.
Myra Lewis: She
was 2 years old when she disappeared from Camden, Mississippi, on March 1, 2014.
Kaylah Hunter: She
was 9 years old
and Kristian Justice
7 months old when they disappeared from Detroit, Michigan on May 24, 2014.
Belel Kandil: She
was 8
and Amina Kandil
10 when they disappeared from New York City on August 29, 2014.
Sara Nicole Graham: She
was 18 years old when she disappeared on the way to Pembroke, North Carolina, on February 4, 2015.
Arianna Fitts - She
was 2 years old when she disappeared in Oakland, California on February 1, 2016.
Lashaya Stine: She
was 16 years old when she disappeared in Aurora, Colorado, on July 15, 2016.
Sunny Sramek - She
was 18 when she disappeared from Trenton, Nebraska, on April 20, 2019.
