SHANNON LEE POTTER Missing 3 Mar 1984 Baltimore, MD

[Richard]

SHANNON LEE POTTER Missing: Mar 3, 1984 Baltimore, MD

SHANNON LEE POTTER
DOB: Jul 20, 1970
Missing: Mar 3, 1984
Age at time: 13
Age Now: 34
Sex: Female
Race: White
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Brown
Height: 5'5" (165 cm)
Weight: 140 lbs (64 kg)
Missing From: BALTIMORE, MD, United States
Non-Family Abduction

Shannon became missing under suspicious circumstances.

Baltimore County Police Department (Maryland) - Missing Persons Unit - 1-410-887-3943

Link
http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet/PubCaseSearchServlet?act=viewPoster&caseNum=601868&orgPrefix=NCMC&searchLang=en_US

[marylandmissing]

I was convinced for the longest time Potter was a Jane Doe in Orange County, Florida. But dentals ruled it out.

[PonderingThings]

I was convinced for the longest time Potter was a Jane Doe in Orange County, Florida. But dentals ruled it out.
I too was convinced... and to be honest I'm not totally convinced that they got the dentals right. The reason? The NCIC database has a serious flaw - it doesn't recognize dental records all the time!!!

That flaw was one of the reasons that three states went to another system. For an excellent explanation of why dentals aren't always a good identifier (although they should be):

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/110121_missingdental26.shtml

Exerpt:
Washington and California both use the DOS-based Computer Assisted Postmortem Identification Program (CAPMI), while Maryland uses the Windows-based WIN-ID, a program based on the CAPMI system.

Both CAPMI and WIN-ID possess better search capabilities than the FBI's National Crime Information Center (NCIC) dental search program and are used as a parallel dental system to NCIC.

Makes me wonder what State checked the dentals... and how they were checked

[Richard]

Shannon Lee Potter
Missing since March 3, 1984 from Baltimore, Maryland
Classification: Non-Family Abduction

Vital Statistics

Date Of Birth: July 20, 1970
Age at Time of Disappearance: 13 years old
Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 5'5; 140 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: White female. Brown hair; brown eyes.
Dentals: Available

Circumstances of Disappearance

Potter was last seen in her hometown of Baltimore, Maryland on March 3, 1984.

She lived with her mother in Parkville, and she left home one night through a bedroom window, leaving a note.

Her family thought she'd go stay with her father or someone else in the family. Foul play is suspected.

Investigators

If you have any information concerning Potter's whereabouts, please contact:
Baltimore County Police Department Unit's Unsolved Case Squad
410-887-3943

Email: bcopd@co.ba.md.us

All information may be submitted anonymously.

NCMEC #: NCMC601868
NCIC Number: M-217369344

Please refer to these numbers when contacting any agency with information regarding this case.

Source Information:

The National Center For Missing and Exploited Children
The Doe Network: Case File 356DFMD

LINK:
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/356dfmd.html

[meggilyweggily]

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/p/potter_shannon.html

[Richard]

The following information came from the Charley Project link, provided by Meaghan (previous post):

(quote) Potter's mother received a letter from her on March 8, five days after she disappeared; it was postmarked Orlando, Florida. No one has heard from Potter since then. Prior to her disappearance she made several long-distance telephone calls to Florida, Colorado and Mississippi. It is unknown if the calls were related to her disappearance, which remains unsolved. Due to the lack of information in Potter's case, it is classified as a non-family abduction. (unquote)

This would seem to indicate that Florida was her intended destination. It would seem that if she was so quick to write her Mom after leaving home, she would also have continued to keep in touch. The fact that she didn't might indicate that she met with foul play.

I wonder if any of the Florida Jane Does recently posted on the Doenet website might match with her description.

[Spazkat9696]

Wasn't there a guy in GA who would get girls to runaway to his house have them write a letter home sayig they were ok and then hold them hostage in a "dungon" untill he killed and dumped them on his farm? Maybe he was close to Fl and had the letter mailed from there to throw the police off. Even if he didn't do it I know there was a guy in ca who did the same even taking one of the women home to visit family but she was to scared to tell them what was going on. I know one of the vic reported him but he had her send her family a letter sying she was in rehab so when she came home the police didn't belive her even though when they did arrest him the car she described was an exact match in every aspect execpt the make was off by 1 year. point being I think a lot more people than we think are held long after their abductions by sicko's. I would hope she is happily ever after somewhere like the girl they found in TX not to long ago and just dosen't want contact with her family.

[KarlK]

Wasn't there a guy in GA who would get girls to runaway to his house have them write a letter home sayig they were ok and then hold them hostage in a "dungon" untill he killed and dumped them on his farm?

I'm curious, do you remember how, in those pre-internet days, did the guy get girls who lived hundreds of miles from his location to run away? Pen Pal?

On a different note, it seems to me that there are chances that this girl may still be alive, but estranged from her family. Of the thousands of kids who run away each year there must be some among those who don't come back that simply don't want to come back.