http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.asp...8_11_Theo676515Missing persons provide puzzles
By RAY MARCANO World Staff
10/28/2008
The only thing that Glen Franklin Prichard and Ron Shelley have in common is their names are listed on a white index card in the Tulsa Police Department file labeled “missing.”
Unlike most of those reported missing to the department, these two men have never resurfaced.
Most people who are reported missing by family or friends have just taken off for a few days without telling anyone or have intentionally disappeared, Sgt. Richard Lawson said.
“A majority of the people will turn up within a week,” Lawson said. “They’ll either return or make contact in some way. In a majority of the cases, it’s a case of a temporary breakdown in contact between two people.
“Sometimes the people who report (others) missing aren’t too closely associated with the missing person’s behavior,” Lawson said.
To find out if a person is missing and hasn’t taken off a few days, police investigate the person’s “normal routine, habits and characteristics.” A person who deviates from his normal routine may have his disappearance listed as suspicious.
There were 222 missing persons in Tulsa in 1983 and only eight remained in the department’s active file. The rest have either returned home or contacted relatives.
“Most of them (cases) are cleared after 30 days because the person reporting the disappearance is no longer assisting in the investigation, Lawson said.
Some people leave home and never contact anyone, Lawson said. A majority of these people just decided to leave their surroundings and make a new life elsewhere.
Juveniles generally aren’t classified as missing, but as runaways. “Children over 10 who aren’t where they’re supposed to be are generally runaways,” Lawson said. “If they’re below 10, then you may be talking about a missing person (who has) lost his way and can’t find his way back.”
Few of those missing are discovered dead. In one of the more recent Tulsa cases, the body of a missing postman Charles Stone, 34, was found in December between two buildings on Seventh Street tied to a post. Stone had been shot to death.
Two former Tulsans, Martha Richardson, 24, and Bobby E. Moffitt, 23, have been charged with first-degree murder in connection with Stone’s death.
Prichard, a Tulsa lawyer, disappeared May 25, 1983 after he ate dinner at a restaurant with some business associates. After dinner, he traveled to a home on East 66th Street and hasn’t been seen since.Police have investigated many leads, but have been unable to come up with any evidence in the case.
Shelley, who disappeared Dec. 10 1981, has been missing the longest of those in the Police Department’s files. Police found Shelley’s home near 93rd East Avenue splattered with blood after family members called the department. There was no sign of Shelley and police still have no clues about his disappearance.