Missing in Missouri: Many cases, each unique

From Gabby Petito to Lauren Cho, to name two recent cases, missing person situations garner much media attention.

However, there is no one-size-fits-all missing-person case, with the reasons for a person's absence spanning a wide spectrum of causes -- some nefarious, others not.

Detective Sgt. John Moore of Dexter (Missouri) Police Department said many missing person cases involve relationship issues -- a spouse or significant other leaves and doesn't want contact with the other person or a juvenile runs away from home.

"That happens more than actual abductions," he said. "A lot of times it's that or, unfortunately, elderly folks who are out here driving and get lost, don't know where they are."

Sgt. Joey Hann of Cape Girardeau Police Department agreed.

"The vast majority of missing persons cases are not associated with a forcible kidnapping. The largest percentage of those who are reported as missing are adults who have chosen to voluntarily walk away from their family's home," he said. "Mental illness, drug abuse and substance abuse are the largest contributing factors. The only missing children reports from the past year have been juveniles who have run away temporarily and have since been found safe and secure."

Hann said many "missing" persons are not actually missing.

"Our agency has located several people who were reported as missing who have told us they want the reporting party to 'leave them alone' once we find them, and our agency has located countless adults who lived with their parents and they voluntarily chose substance abuse and living on the street to returning to the rules of their household," he explained. "We cannot forcibly return an adult who has committed no crime, we can just educate them on available resources and try to offer them any help they may require. It is extremely rare that a person is reported as missing and we do not have any information on their whereabouts."

But law enforcement agencies receive many reports of a missing person. As of this week, there are nearly 600 missing persons listed in the Missouri State Highway Patrol's database. Some of those have been missing for decades. Others disappeared this week. Hann said such cases are not infrequent in the city.

"The number of missing persons vary from year to year but Cape Girardeau has taken approximately 30 missing persons reports in the past year. All of these cases have resulted in the missing person being located during this 12-month reporting period," he noted.

Missing in Missouri

Active missing person cases in Southeast Missouri include:

Evan Batterton

Linda Crites

Pamela Dalton

Vernold Gerler

Quamarius Jones

Roger Miller

Shyann Morrison

Jennifer Murakami

Christina Stiver

• Martez Aide, 12, Cape Girardeau, missing since Oct. 11. No other information available as of presstime. Investigating agency: Cape Girardeau Police Department.
• Evan Batterton, would be 39, Cape Girardeau, missing since Nov. 1, 2017. A Cape Girardeau Police Department report stated a witness told police she believed Batterton was dead based on comments from his mother. However, in February 2020, authorities spoke to the mother of Batterton's children, who said she had been in recent contact with Batterton and he "is not a missing person." Repeated attempts to contact Batterton and his children's mother have been unsuccessful. Investigating agency: Cape Girardeau Police Department.
• Linda Crites, would be 75, Jackson, missing since Nov. 23, 1983. Crites talked to her son by telephone on the date of her disappearance, making plans to visit him the next day. She was never seen again. She was going through a divorce at the time. Authorities suspect foul play in her disappearance. Investigating agency: Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Office.
• Pamela Dalton, would be 63, Sikeston, Missouri, missing since May 1, 1991. Dalton was last seen in Sikeston. She has two tattoos -- "Lynn Allen" on her ankle and a rose on her breast. She may use the last name of Smith or Robinson. Investigating agency: Sikeston Department of Public Safety.
• Vernold Gerler, would be 75, Cape Girardeau, missing since July 15, 2004. He was last seen in the Cape Girardeau area. Last known wearing a dark Hawaiian shirt and dark khaki pants. He was known to have a violent temper. Investigating agency: Cape Girardeau Police Department.
• Quamarius Jones, 17, Jackson, missing since Sept. 7. No other information available as of presstime. Investigating agency: Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Office.
• Roger Miller, would be 96, Marble Hill, Missouri, missing since Oct. 27, 1993. Evidence found indicates a possible homicide. He was known to wear a neatly trimmed beard and mustache and dark glasses and was missing a pinky finger on one hand. Investigating agency: Bollinger County Sheriff's Office.
• Shyann Morrison, 21, Sikeston, missing since Feb. 6. Last seen at Quick Chek II in Sikeston, wearing a red jacket with fur, black pants and brown boots. May have been on her way to Texas. Is believed to suffer from mental health issues. Investigating agency: Sikeston Department of Public Safety.
• Jennifer Murakami, 33, Jackson, missing since Sept. 29. No other information available as of presstime. Investigating agency: Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Office.
• Christina Stiver, 25, Dexter, Missouri, missing since Aug. 15. Also known as Christina Rankin. Believed to be in Cape Girardeau, perhaps in the Bloomfield Street area. Investigating agency: Dexter Police Department.
• Hunter Thomas Taul, 19, Dexter, missing since Sept. 20. Investigating agency: Dexter Police Department.

No longer missing

Just this week, two area residents who had been reported as missing were found safe.

Robert Samuel Watts of Dexter went missing in Chicago on Monday after leaving his cellphone at a hotel he had stayed in. He was found safe Wednesday morning, according to Dexter authorities.

Sabina Rodriguez, 62, of Cape Girardeau went missing Oct. 8. A Cape Girardeau Police Department report indicated a friend told authorities Rodriguez had asked to be taken to a hospital but did not show up at the person's home. Another friend suggested Rodriguez may have been injured or gotten lost, possibly by the Mississippi River. Searches of area hospitals did not turn up Rodriguez, but Rodriguez returned home Tuesday. A follow-up with police indicated she said she had been in a local hospital with a head injury.

Hann said authorities consider missing-person cases based on the details of the situation.

"There is no rule that a person must be missing for 48 hours to make a missing person's report. The Cape Girardeau Police Department always reviews the circumstances surrounding the situation. If foul play or suspicious circumstances exist, the report is taken and followed up on immediately," he said. "I have been present for reports of missing children where as soon as the parent is relaying the details to one officer, additional officers on shift are immediately canvassing the area on foot where the child was last seen."