Six-year-old Isabel Mercedes Celis has vanished from her Tucson bedroom, sparking a frantic manhunt. From Polly Klaas to Elizabeth Smart, see more famous cases of disappearances.
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The last time Isabel’s parents saw their daughter was as the 6-year-old girl got ready for bed last last week in their Tucson home. The next morning, her window was open and she was gone. On Thursday, Isabel’s parents made a public plea, addressing the kidnapper to beg for her return: “Just please, please, the person or persons who have Isabel, tell us your demands. Tell us what you want. We will do anything for her.” With no leads after combing the family’s neighborhood, the FBI has brought in additional resources and Mexican authorities have begun searching hotels and bus stations across the border.
Tucson Police Department / AP Photo
In a horrifying 1993 case that made national headlines, 12-year-old Polly Klass, from Petaluma, Calif., was taken at knifepoint from her home during a slumber party. Her two friends were tied up and told to count to 1,000 while the kidnapper left with Polly. After a two-month, 4,000-person manhunt, Richard Allen Davis was taken in, charged in the murder and led police to the body. Polly had been strangled. Davis sparked outrage at the trial when he flipped the finger to Klaas’s parents and alleged that Klaas’s father had molested her. “You made it very easy today by your conduct,” the judge snapped as he handed Davis a death sentence.
Paul Sakuma / AP Photo
In 2005, John Couey admitted to raping and killing 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford, who had been taken in the middle of the night from her bed in Homasassa, Fla., earlier that year. He told investigators that he kept the girl in his trailer for three days before putting her in a garbage bag and burying her alive in a nearby yard. Couey was sentenced to death and three life sentences, but died in prison in 2009 of colon cancer. Jessica’s father, Mark, pushed through the Jessica Lunsford Act, which tightens tracking of released sex offenders through electronic devices and lengthened sentences.
John Froschauer / AP Photo
Sometimes progress can stem from horrific tragedies. Such was the case with the kidnapping and murder of Megan Kanka, who in 1994 was lured from her New Jersey home by a convicted sex offender who promised to show her a puppy. Jesse Timmendequas had been living with four other sex offenders across the street from Megan. He raped Megan, strangled her, and dumped her body in a nearby park in a toy chest. One month after her murder, New Jersey passed “Megan’s Law,” a series of now-federal laws that requires a sex offender database available to the public, a community notification system, and a mandatory address change disclosure for offenders after being released.
Daniel Hulshizer / AP Photo
Sparking one of the most publicized media campaigns in recent memory was the abduction of 4-year-old Madeleine McCann from the Portuguese villa where she slept while her parents dined nearby in 2007. The case captivated the world as police interviewed multiple suspects (including Madeleine’s parents), consulted clairvoyants, and following dead-end sightings of the girl. Celebrity advocates like Richard Branson pleaded for her safe return and offered reward money. As the fifth anniversary of her disappearance approaches next week, Scotland Yard has called for a reopening of the investigation, after identifying almost 200 pieces of evidence for follow-up, but Portuguese authorities have so far denied the requests.
Paulo Duarte / AP Photo
Elizabeth Smart’s kidnapping and recovery is one of the most famous comeback stories of the last decade. In 2002, Smart was abducted from her bed at age 14 and held hostage for nine months just 18 miles away from her home in Utah. Through the memory of her sister, who was in the room during the kidnapping, sketches of the perpetrator were released and he was identified—ultimately leading to Smart’s discovery. Her kidnapper, who considered himself a prophet of God, was later sentenced to two life-terms. After her rescue, Smart became an active proponent of the AMBER Alert system and legislation against sexual predators. Last summer she joined ABC News as a correspondent on missing persons.
