36 replies to this topic

[Lori Davis]

Christina has been missing for over one year now.  Our thoughts and prayers are with her family, friends and loved ones.

[Kelly]

http://www.connecttr...33302c4a59728,0


Peoria clerk thinks she spotted missing Hannibal woman

by Rajah Maples
Posted: 05.04.2011 at 9:46 PM
Updated: 05.05.2011 at 5:00 PM

PEORIA, ILL. -- Peoria police say they don't know where a missing Hannibal woman could be, even though street reports put Christina Whittaker in a 30-block area there. A private investigator in Quincy told KHQA two months ago that he thinks Christina is in Peoria.

He also said there are several reports of confirmed sightings, but police say those reports are not from credible sources. Christina's family posted her picture in several downtown locations, hoping for any new leads.


Please read more at the link above.

[Kelly]

http://www.hannibal....re-is-Christina

Where is Christina?
Hannibal woman has been missing nearly two years

By DOMINIC GENETTI
Hannibal Courier-Post
Posted Nov 02, 2011 @ 10:28 AM
Hannibal, MO —

It was a cold November night. Friday the 13 to be exact.

Usually tall tales of superstition surround the sixth day of the week when the 13th day of the month falls on this particular day, but the events of Friday, Nov. 13, 2009, go way beyond fears of walking under a step ladder or in the path of a black cat. This was the night Christina Whittaker went out with a few friends in Hannibal and hasn’t returned home since.

“It just seems unreal to me,” Cindy Young, Christina’s mother, said. “It seems like it’s been five years since I’ve seen her, but when you think about two years — I don’t know, those anniversary dates are really, really rough. I’m dreading it.”

Christina, a lively 21-year-old with glowing red hair, brown eyes and an easily recognizable large smile, came across some friends she hadn’t seen in a while and wanted to catch up. They decided to spend a few hours together and have some drinks at Rookies Sports Bar.
Cindy and her husband, Alex Young, were on the road in Texas. Alex is a professional truck driver and Cindy was along for the ride.

Christina called to let her mother know she was going out for the evening. Because she was diagnosed with bi-polar disorder, Christina had a habit of calling her mother several times a day. It didn’t bother Cindy one bit, however the idea of Christina going out that night didn’t sit well with her. Christina’s daughter, Alexandria, was only a few months old at the time and along with her brother, his girlfriend and Christina’s boyfriend, Travis, Christina was helping care for Cindy’s ailing mother.

“We were only going to be gone for three days,” Cindy remembers. “We were actually supposed to be home Friday night.”
But Alex’s truck was having problems and the couple lost a day of travel to get it repaired.

“I’ll be home tomorrow and you can go Saturday night,” Cindy told Christina. “I asked her not to go. I don’t know, call it mother’s intuition or whatever, I just asked her, just don’t go.”

Christina assured her mother it would only be a few hours and then she’d return home.

Please read more at the link above.

[Lori Davis]

http://www.connecttr....aspx?id=686021

A balloon rally for Christina Whittaker

Posted: 11.12.2011 at 11:59 PM

HANNIBAL, MO. -- Sunday marks the second year anniversary of a Hannibal woman's disappearance.

Christina Whittaker was last seen at a bar in the 600 block of Broadway in Hannibal back in 2009. Since then, Whittaker's family and police have chased down leads trying to find her.

Sunday, family and friends will come together for a balloon rally where they'll observe the anniversary. The event will take place in Central Park in Hannibal at 3 p.m.

If you have any information that could help find Christina, you're asked to contact the Hannibal Police Department: (573) 221-0987, 777 Broadway, Hannibal, Mo.

[Kelly]

http://www.pjstar.co...ng-for-daughter

Mom keeps searching for daughter
Cindy Young still holds out hope of being reunited with woman who went missing from Missouri in 2009

By MATT BUEDEL OF THE JOURNAL STAR
Posted Dec 03, 2011 @ 07:42 PM
Last update Dec 04, 2011 @ 11:43 PM

PEORIA —

Cindy Young just spent a third Thanksgiving without her daughter, but she holds out hope they'll still be reunited this holiday season.

Christina Whittaker disappeared from Hannibal, Mo., on Nov. 13, 2009, leaving behind a then-6-month-old little girl, Alexandria.

Within days, the then-21-year-old was spotted in the Peoria area. Those sightings have led Young on an exhausting odyssey - a continuous search for her daughter that keeps turning up clues in Peoria but has also sapped what little resources the grandmother has to fund her own rescue efforts.

"We've lost or sold everything we had to be able to continue the search," Young said. "I'll never stop until I find her."

Young says authorities who initially provided assistance in the search for Whittaker have since written off the case as an adult runaway. But Whittaker's obvious adoration for then-infant Alexandria makes it difficult to believe the woman has willingly stayed away for more than two years.

Young now wonders whether a change in her daughter's medication for bipolar disorder and other unspecified mental conditions in the couple of months before her disappearance may have played a role.

Her daughter had what she described as a "child-like" mind that made her susceptible to manipulation. A different regiment of medication may have made her more unstable and naive, Young says.

Whittaker was last seen by family before going out with friends that November night. She apparently was separated from friends and looking for a ride home from a Hannibal bar.

Young believes she fell in with the wrong group of people that night - people who have since taken control of her and exploited her.

"I know she didn't just walk away," Young said. "Her family is her life. ... She had only been away from her family for one or maybe two days at a time her whole life."

On multiple occasions, sometimes for weeks at a time, Young has returned to Peoria to search for her daughter on her own. While handing out fliers, she has encountered more than one store clerk or person on the street who claims to have seen Whittaker.

"She looks a lot different than her flier picture now," Young said, noting more current descriptions have her as weighing less than 100 pounds but still with long, strawberry-blonde hair. "I can't pass out those flyers for more than 15 minutes before running into someone who's seen her."

Young plans a return trip to Peoria soon, though she doesn't want to say exactly when she'll be in town. She fears advertising her presence will ensure her daughter will remain far from the public eye during the trip.

But there is a message Young wants her daughter and anyone with her to know: she just wants her home, no questions asked. She just wants her granddaughter to know her mom through more than outdated pictures.

"We just want this nightmare over," Young said.

[Lori Davis]

Missing Woman's Family Tracks Her to Peoria

By Joe Bennett
December 14, 2011
Updated Dec 15, 2011 at 9:31 AM CST

PEORIA, Ill -- Christina Whittaker was out with friends one night in Hannibal, Missouri looking for a ride home when family members say she disappeared, reportedly to Peoria.

Her mom says Christina loved her family, and told them so every day.

She never showed any indication that she wanted to run from home.

"She would call me or text me every night before she went to bed and say, 'I love you Mommy," says Cindy Young. "Now, not a word in over two years."

Read more: http://www.centralil...-135632873.html

[Shannon]

http://www.connecttr....aspx?id=762453

Mother of missing Hannibal woman not giving up

by Rajah Maples

Posted: 06.05.2012 at 9:38 PM
Updated: 06.06.2012 at 8:25 AM

HANNIBAL, MO. -- A Tri-State mystery has attracted national attention once again.

The Steve Wilkos Show re-aired its episode featuring family and friends of Christina Whittaker on June 4, 2012.

She's the Hannibal woman who went missing in November 2009.

The show first aired in 2010 just months after Whittaker's disappearance.

KHQA spoke with her mother who says she's received several messages from people all over the country since the rerun.

"I never have watched it, but I always know when it's on," said Cindy Young. "A lot of people reach out to me, because they portrayed her as being dead."

Young says she regrets appearing on The Steve Wilkos Show.

"What they do is they take families' tragedies, and they turn them into their ratings," she said. "They don't care about us. They promised us to get Christina's face out there to help find her. It's getting her face out there, but it's not helping us get her home by making people believe she's dead. That's not helping us. I wish we hadn't done it, but at the time, I didn't know about the show. I didn't know what type of show it was, but hindsight is 20/20. You have somebody missing, you do whatever you do to get them home. It doesn't come with a manual."

Meanwhile, Young says she's focusing on her granddaughter, Alexandria, who was not quite seven months old when her mother went missing. She turned Whittaker's former bedroom into a room just for Alexandria.

"I'm not depressed as I used to be," she said. "I still have my days where I cry and don't want to get out of bed. At some point, you have to realize life goes on. I had to teach myself how to live again. It's hard, and it never gets easy. I'm just like an open wound. It never heals. It's always there."

Young and her husband have traveled throughout the reason looking for Whittaker who went missing when she was 21-years-old.

"There's not a lot of help out there for the missing, and their families," she said. "If you're not an investigator, you'll learn quickly to be one, because you have to do a lot on your own."

Young says she's working on a cookbook to raise money for a reward. She says she hopes to offer a $4000 reward soon to help bring Christina home. Anyone with any information on Christina's whereabouts is asked to contact the Hannibal Police Department at (573) 221-0987.

[Shannon]

http://www.lasvegasw...rs-later/11393/

Christina Whittaker missing ; 3 years later

Jan 19th, 2013

By Miz.Chellie

Christina Whittaker has been missing since November 13, 2009. When someone goes missing, police have to follow up on leads and attempt to determine if the person missing fell victim to some type of crime, such as an abduction, or simply voluntarily left.

The Christina Whittaker case is an interesting one because she may very well be alive.

It appears that the young mother was troubled.

A missing person poster from Project Jason says that she suffered from fibromyalgia, is bi-polar, and suffers from depression.

Sometimes families of the missing are reluctant to disclose intimate personal details, to be consumed by the media and the public, for fear that authorities will not take the case as seriously and paint their loved one in a bad light.

Take the case of Kara Nichols who is missing from Colorado, for example.  It appears that she was involved in the adult entertainment industry and may have left on her own.  May have.  Then again, she may have met with trouble and her family is desperate to find her.

In Christina Whittaker’s case, she had both physical and mental health issues for which she was taking medication for.

Even though she was bipolar and suffering from depression, she was at a bar, on a Friday night, in downtown Hannibal, MO, called the Rookies Sports Bar, drinking heavily on the last night that she was seen.

Anyone will tell you that bipolar medications and alcohol simply do not mix. The effects of the alcohol can be magnified which may have resulted in her appearing to be very intoxicated.

Although that might not have been a smart decision, it is what it is.

Oftentimes, people that are bipolar suffer from alcoholism or drug abuse and it is a link that is being studied.

Christina Whittaker did not use drugs according to mother

Her mother, Cindy Young, has said that although her daughter was on numerous medications, she did not use street drugs.

Christina Whittaker was thrown out of the bar at 11:45 pm for her behavior toward other patrons and reports say she left alone.  Some accounts have indicated that she initially met friends at the bar and, after being thrown out, left the bar alone. People in the bar have said Whittaker was drinking large quantities of alcohol.

All agree that she left the bar at 11:45 pm and was wearing a white T-shirt, pink tank top, jeans, and pink and white Nike shoes.

Christina, according to her mother, reportedly asked the bartender to tell her friends to give her a ride home. That was not successful so she went next door to River City Billiards and began to ask different people for a ride. She asked strangers and acquaintances alike. No one gave her a ride and she ran away in tears.

The family waited until Sunday to report her missing, which can be construed as a bit strange especially since her mother, Cindy Young, says that she and her daughter, Christina Whittaker, were very close and spoke several times each day or saw each other daily.

According to Young, her daughter talked to her boyfriend, Travis Blackwell,who is not the father of her child, at about 10:30 p.m. Nov. 13 and said she had a ride and would be home about midnight.

She told him she was going to stop by a restaurant and bring him something to eat.

He missed work the next morning because, since Whittaker was not home, he had to watch her daughter.

Capt. Jim Hark, Hannibal Missouri Police Department assistant chief, did not think it was unusual that her family waited so long to report her missing and said, It’s not uncommon to have a person gone for a day or two, but after that, we start taking a hard look at what is going on.

...

Whittaker’s daughter will soon be turning four and the family of Christina Whittaker hopes to find their daughter and will not give up.  Effort to find her seem to remain focused in the Period, IL area.

If you have any information on Christina Whittaker’s whereabouts, you’re asked to contact the Hannibal Police Department at (573) 221-0987.

[Shannon]

http://www.connecttr....aspx?id=894932

Cleveland case inspires Hannibal mother

by Rajah Maples

Posted: 05.07.2013 at 9:34 PM
Updated: 05.08.2013 at 6:00 AM

HANNIBAL, MO. -- Three women who had been missing for more than a decade were found in Cleveland, Ohio on Monday.

That news in Cleveland has given a Hannibal mother new hope.

Cindy Young's daughter, Christina Whittaker, went missing in November 2009.

She was last seen at a sports bar on Broadway in Hannibal.

Young has never given up hope that her daughter is alive.

She said Monday's discovery of three missing women gave her a boost that she's needed lately.

"It's a victory for all of us who have kids who are missing and really for our entire nation," Young said. "I needed it. I really needed it."

Young thinks Whittaker could be a victim of human trafficking and just wants her to come home.

"It happens everyday," she said. "People think it's not here. It's everywhere. You can have a missing person right next door and not realize it. I hope to get back searching soon for her. Maybe she'll be the next one we'll find."

Whittaker has a daughter, Alexandria, who was not quite seven-months-old when her mother went missing.

She just turned 4-years-old last month.

[Shannon]

http://www.connecttr...95#.UgB5XoznaUk

 

Billboard for missing Hannibal woman

 

by Rajah Maples

 

Posted: 07.30.2013 at 11:01 PM

Updated: 07.31.2013 at 8:00 AM

 

HANNIBAL, MO. -- A Hannibal woman who's been missing for more than three years has a new presence in America's Hometown.

 

A billboard went up this week with Christina Whittaker's picture on it.

 

Whittaker went missing in 2009.

 

Her mother, Cindy Young, told KHQA an organization put up the billboard in Hannibal and plans to put another one up in Peoria, where some believe she was last seen.

[Lori Davis]

http://www.connecttr....aspx?id=971216

 

Family has hope for missing Hannibal woman

 

by Rajah Maples

Posted: 11.13.2013 at 9:24 PM

Updated: 11.14.2013 at 8:30 AM

 

HANNIBAL, MO. -- A Hannibal woman went missing four years ago Wednesday.

 

Her family hasn't given up hope of finding her.

 

Friends, family and supporters gathered in Hannibal's Central Park Wednesday afternoon for a prayer vigil for Christina Whittaker.

 

The then 21-year-old woman was last seen at a bar and hasn't been seen or heard from since.

 

Her family still is searching for answers.

 

November 13 is not just another day of the year for Whittaker's mother, Cindy Young.

 

"This is really one of the hardest days of the year for me," Young said. "This, and the holidays. None of them are easy."

 

Whittaker was last seen along Broadway in Hannibal four years ago this week.

 

Her mother never thought she'd go this long without answers.

 

"If someone would've told me at that time that she'd be gone 4 years, I don't know if I could've made it this long, cause you have hope everyday that she's going to be home soon," Young said. "It seems like it's been 10 years."

 

Young still thinks her daughter was the victim of human trafficking and is in the Peoria area.

 

"I know she's had a lot done to her, and I know she's got a lot of fear in her," Young said.

 

Young's brother, Michael Elzea, travels to Peoria once a month to look for Whittaker.

 

"Every time I go there, I get little bits of information that someone might've seen her," Elzea said. "It just gives you a little bit of hope. I think someone knows something, and I think someone here in town knows something. I don't know why someone won't come out and say something. She's got a little girl."

 

That little girl, Alexandria, was just 6-months-old when her mother went missing.

 

"She's 4 1/2 now, and she says she's asking Santa Claus for her mommy for Christmas this year, and she said, 'I mean it this year' that he'd better bring her mommy home," Young said. "We still don't celebrate a holiday yet. I haven't cooked a holiday dinner since she's been missing. In my heart, I just can't get myself to do it."

 

"I made a promise to my sister that I'd never give up on her," Elzea said. "We believe in miracles."

 

KHQA contacted the Hannibal Police Department for any updates on this missing persons case.

 

Those calls were not returned.

 

If you have any information about Whittaker's whereabouts, you're asked to contact H.P.D. at 573-221-0987.

[Kelly]

http://www.cdljobs.c...sgiving-edition

 

Help Find Missing Persons - Thanksgiving Edition

This month's edition honors those missing close to Thanksgiving time. As families across the nation sit down together to give thanks, in other homes there is an empty place at the table and unique heartbreak that can only go away with answers, and hopefully, a positive resolution. We also recognize that many of our trucking families are not together, but we give thanks they are on the road, bringing needed goods for all of us.

 

As we grow ever closer to the end of the year, please consider Project Jason and the families of the missing in your charitable donation giving plan. If you feel so moved, please visit Project Jason.

 

Missing Person Campaign Information - November 2014

The November 2014 campaign poster, featured below, identifies just a few of the many, many individuals gone missing.  We know you are rushed during this and every holiday season, but we ask that you take a moment to view these faces. If you are willing, take a moment of your time to print and post a few campaign posters along your truck route. Anything you can do to reunite one of these, or any of the missing persons featured on past campaign posters is most appreciated. We thank you for your time to help!

 

 

Click on Each Image Below For More Information

 

Name: Jesse Ross

Missing Since: 11/21/06
Missing from: Chicago, Illinois
Classification: Endangered Missing
Date of Birth: 02/18/87
Age at disappearance: 19
Height: 5’10”
Weight: 140 lbs.
Hair Color: Red
Eye Color: Blue
Race: White
Gender: Male

 

Distinguishing Characteristics: Jesse has a light complexion, freckles, and may wear eyeglasses. He was last seen wearing a green warm-up jacket, white t-shirt, blue jeans, and black jogging shoes.

Jesse was in Chicago for a mock United Nations meeting. He disappeared from the Sheraton Towers hotel in the downtown area on November 21, 2006, at about 2:00 a.m. He was seen on video camera leaving the hotel. He did not appear to be intoxicated. The walk to the hotel he was staying in was ten minutes in a well-lit and recorded area, but none of the cameras captured Jesse's movements. If you have information regarding Jesse's disappearance, please contact the Chicago Police Department at (312) 744-8266.

 

 

Name: Andrew Skelton

Date of Birth: 11/20/2001
Date Missing: 11/26/2010
Age at time of disappearance: 9
Missing From: Morenci, Michigan
Gender: Male
Race: White
Height: 4 ft 1 in
Weight: 57 lbs
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Brown
Complexion: Medium

 

Andrew was last seen wearing brown pajamas with orange trim.

 

Name: Alexander Skelton

Alias: Alex
Date of Birth: 11/04/2003
Date Missing: 11/26/2010
Age at time of disappearance: 7
Missing From: Morenci, Michigan
Gender: Male
Race: White
Height: 3ft 9 in
Weight: 45 lbs
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Brown
Complexion: Medium

Alex has a scar on his chin and near his hairline. He needs glasses for classroom work, but did not have them with him. Alexander was last seen wearing black pajama pants and a grey shirt. He has asthma, but did not have his medication with him.

 

Name: Tanner Skelton

Date of Birth: 10/20/2005
Date Missing: 11/26/2010
Age at time of disappearance: 5
Missing From: Morenci, Michigan
Gender: Male
Race: White
Height: 3 ft 6 in
Weight: 40 lbs
Hair Color: Blond
Eye Color: Blue
Complexion: Fair

 

Tanner was wearing camouflage pajama bottoms and a Scooby-Doo shirt. Tanner also has asthma, but did not have medication with him.

The brothers have been missing since Thanksgiving weekend, 2010. They went for the holiday to visit with their father and he states that he gave them to an underground organization, which authorities have not found to exist. The boys' father, John Skelton, was sentenced in 2011 to up to 15 years in prison after pleading no contest to unlawful imprisonment and for refusal to provide the boys' whereabouts. If you have any information about the brothers disappearance, please reach out to the Morenci, MI Police Department at (517) 458-7141.

 

 

Name: Adam C. Kellner

Date of Birth: 1973-05-03
Date Missing: 2007-11-07
Missing From: Stevenson Ranch, CA
Age at Time of Disappearance: 34
Gender: Male
Race: White
Height: 67 inches
Weight: 165 to 175 pounds
Hair Color: Brown
Hair (Other): Balding in back
Eye Color: Brown
Complexion: Light

 

Adam has previously broken his arm as teen. Dental and DNA records are available. He was possibly wearing a black jacket at the time of his disappearance.

 

Adam Christopher Kellner was last seen at approximately 9:00 pm at his residence in the 25700 block of Hawthorne Pl. in Stevenson Ranch, CA. Adam had returned to the house from the garage, asked a family member if they needed assistance, and then went to bed. At approximately 3:00pm, the following afternoon, family realized that Adam was gone. All of Adam's personal belongings were left at the residence. Adam suffers from schizophrenia and may need medication. If you have information to report, please contact the L.A. County Sheriff's Department at (323) 890-5500.

 

Name: Christina Whittaker

Alias: Christina Whittaker Young
Date of Birth: 03/25/1988
Date Missing: 11/13/2009
Age at time of disappearance: 21
Missing From: Hannibal, Missouri
Gender: Female
Race: White
Height: 5 ft 6 in
Weight: 130 lbs.
Hair Color: Red
Hair (other): Shoulder length, naturally curly, but may straighten
Eye Color: Brown
Complexion: Fair-light

 

Christina has a tattoo on her back, an outline of an angel 10" long and 8" wide on her left shoulder and a tattoo on her left ankle of a green Care Bear about 3" tall. She was last seen wearing blue jeans, a white v-neck top with a pink tank top underneath, new white Nikes with a pink stripe. Christina wears a ring with a pink stone and cluster of diamonds about 1/2" long.

She was last seen at Rookies Sports Bar around 11:45 p.m. Witnesses say she left the bar by herself and may have also been taking prescription drugs in addition to drinking alcohol. She has fibromyalgia, is bi-polar, and suffers from depression. If you have information pertinent to Christina's case, please call the Hannibal, MO Police Department at (573) 221-0987.

 

Name: Jennifer Fay

Date of Birth: 12/25/1972
Date Missing: 11/14/1989
Age at time of disappearance: 16
Missing From: Brockton, Massachusetts
Gender: Female
Race: White
Height: 5 ft 4 in
Weight: 90 lbs
Hair Color: Blonde
Eye Color: Blue
Complexion: Fair

 

Jen has a scar above her eyebrow. She was last seen leaving her home with a male friend to attend a gathering of friends near her home. The friend got sick and they went separate ways one block from her home. Jennifer was never seen again. To report information, please contact the Massachusetts State Police by calling toll-free, (866) 882-2626.

 

Name: Joshua Bryan Smith

Alias / Nickname: Josh
Date of Birth: 1977-11-04
Date Missing: 2000-11-04
Missing From: Ponte Vedra Beach, FL
Age at Time of Disappearance: 23
Gender: Male
Race: White
Height: 70 inches
Weight: 150 pounds
Hair Color: Black
Eye Color: Brown

At the time of his disappearance, Josh was wearing a brown or dark colored T-shirt and brown shorts. Joshua left work early on November 4, 2000, and parked his vehicle on Ponte Vedra Blvd. in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL. His vehicle was later located and his shoes were found on the beach. Although there have been extensive searches conducted by law enforcement, his whereabouts remain unknown. If you have any information to help reunite Josh with his family, please contact the St. John's Sheriff's Office at 904-669-4987.

 

Name: Aaron Watkins

Date of Birth: 08/23/1989
Date Missing: 11/11/2007
Age at time of disappearance: 18
Missing From: Elizabeth, New Jersey
Gender: Male
Race: White
Height: 5 ft 6 in
Weight: 140 lbs
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Blue
Complexion: Fair

 

Aaron has a pierced tongue and ears, and a mole under his right eye. He was last seen wearing a green baseball cap, black hooded sweatshirt, blue jeans, and black shoes. Aaron's roommate stated that he last saw Aaron leaving his home in the roommate's vehicle to go to an acquaintance's home. The vehicle was later found by the police parked on the Driscoll Bridge in New Jersey. Divers searched the waters an hour afterward, but there was no sign of Aaron. He has not been seen or heard from since then. There has been no activity on his Social Security account. Aaron was diagnosed with ADHD when he was a young child. If you have any information to report, please contact the Plainfield Police Department at (908) 753-3021.

 

Thank you for your time to review and support the mission of Project Jason. Our hope is that by promoting the Awareness Angels Network to our truck driver visitors, CDLjobs.com is able to help Project Jason disseminate the information that helps to reunite missing persons with their loved ones. Be safe!