Our Porch Light Stays On Until All Missing Kids Come Home
Most missing children are found quickly. But sometimes decades pass without answers, leaving loved ones heartbroken. For many of these families, time is frozen. Their child’s room remains untouched. They hang on to the phone number they had when their child vanished. Many families even leave their porch lights on in hopes their child will find their way back home.
That porch light has become a symbol of hope at NCMEC. At our headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia, we have our own light shining for these families.
Our Porch Light Stays On Until All Missing Children Come Home is a new blog series that highlights some of NCMEC's older cases. Do you hold the clue to solving a case, or could you be the link to bringing a missing child home?
Decades of Silence: The Unresolved Fate of Two Missing Boys
James “Eric” Bess, 14, and Chipley Charles Sanders, 13.
James “Eric” Bess grew up in Louisville, Kentucky, with his two siblings. Although his family described him as a good kid, he often found himself in trouble. At 14, he was sent to the Ashland Group Home in September 1984. There, he quickly befriended Chipley Charles Sanders, a 13-year-old from Hardin, Kentucky, who had been living with a foster family before his transfer to the group home earlier that year.
On the morning of Oct. 4, 1984, James and Chipley decided to leave the group home together. They managed to slip out and remain undetected for several hours in the nearby town, but their adventure was cut short when they were apprehended by the police and returned to Ashland. However, the boys were determined to flee and made another run for it at 9:30 p.m. that same night.
A search was launched, but this time, no one could find the boys.
Days turned into months and months into years. Now, 40 years later, their families are still wondering where they are. James’s mother, Sarah Bess, has vowed never to stop searching for her son.
“James, I want to know where you are. Please reach out to me. I have been missing you for so many years. I have been crying and struggling since you disappeared. You have so many people that love you. I am 72 years old, and I want to see you before God calls me home.”
– Sarah Bess, James’s mother
These age progressions created by a NCMEC forensic artist show what James and Chipley may look like today.
James "Eric" Bess age progressed to 51 years old; Chipley Charles Sanders age progressed to 50 years old.
James, now 54, has a scar on the right side of his waist and his eyes are grayish blue. Chipley, now 53, has a birthmark on his back left shoulder.
If you have any information about James Bess's or Chipley Sanders's disappearance, please call NCMEC at 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800- 843-5678).
You can view James “Eric” Bess’s missing poster here: https://www.missingkids.org/poster/NCMC/1229638/1.
You can view Chipley Charles Sanders’s missing poster here: https://www.missingkids.org/poster/NCMC/781869/1.
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You can learn more about long-term missing cases and what you can do to help here: https://www.missingkids.org/theissues/longtermmissing.
View our interactive map: https://ncmec.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=504833a14fcb42198d67a2c53fcbc96e.
Below are other long-term missing cases we have highlighted.
Jennifer at age 11 and an age progression of what Jennifer may look like today at 48 years old.
Jennifer Martin was 11 years old when she disappeared from her neighborhood in Reno, Nevada. Her family hopes a new image created by a forensic artist at NCMEC can help bring them answers.
On June 28, 1987, Jennifer was at home with her brother. The siblings lived with their mother and father on Surge Street in Lemmon Valley, Nevada. According to her brother, Charles, Jennifer walked to the 7-Eleven convenience store on the corner of their street. It was 3 p.m. in the afternoon. The store clerk told police he remembers Jennifer entering the store and giving her change for her purchase.
“She bought a soda and a candy bar,” Jennifer's sister, Colleen, told NCMEC. “She left the store, walked around the corner and was never seen again.”
The 7-Eleven and a search party. Credit: KTVN Reno, Nevada.
Colleen said the Washoe County Sheriff’s office launched a search with cars, horses and even ATVs, but Jennifer was never found.
“She was a little tiny 11-year-old who only weighed about 46 pounds wearing a purple sweater,” said Colleen. “We were unable to find anyone who would admit to seeing anything. I don't know how a little girl can disappear off the face of the earth for 37 years.”
Police said there were reports of a small white pick-up truck speeding away from the 7-Eleven and across the field behind the store. Neither the car nor the occupants were ever located. After more than three decades, Colleen is still hoping that someone comes forward with answers.
“This has been unbelievably painful for me and our entire family. It's a pain that never goes away.”
Colleen has a message for her sister: “I would just like to say to her, Jennifer, I love you so much, you are my heart, and I will never stop looking for you. I have the same phone number I had when you were taken and I live in the same place, just in case you are able, somehow, to reach out to me.”
Jennifer has two hairline scars under her chin and a star-shaped scar on her upper right arm. The NCMEC age progression image shows what she may look like today at 48 years old. If you have any information about Jennifer Martin’s disappearance, please call NCMEC at 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800- 843-5678). You can also view Jennifer’s missing poster here: https://www.missingkids.org/poster/ncmc/601816/mainposter.
You can learn more about long-term missing cases and what you can do to help here: https://www.missingkids.org/theissues/longtermmissing.
View our interactive map: https://ncmec.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=504833a14fcb42198d67a2c53fcbc96e.