Jesse 'Opie' Ross

Jesse Ross looks like the "All American" college kid, a good kid, who with red hair, freckles and an infectious smile earned him the nickname, "Opie". He excelled in his classes at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and was attending a mock United Nations conference in Chicago with 13 of his fellow students. A sponsor had just promised them a trip to Costa Rica, an exciting adventure for Jesse and his friends. Jesse Ross has a promising future ahead of him and proud parents and a family who shared so much.

On November 20, 2006, Jesse phone his mother to let her know the conference was going well and he was enjoying himself. He was the type of son that always kept in contact with his family, especially confiding in his mother, Donna.

The students were staying at the Four Points Sheraton Hotel in the downtown are of Chicago close to the river. There was a dance and parties before a mock emergency meeting scheduled at 2am.

Sources say that around 2:30am Jesse got up to take a 30 minute break, walked out of a side door to a well lit walkway. Surveillance cameras recorded him leaving out that doorway. 12 hours later his roommate realized that Jesse had not returned to their room at the Four Points Sheraton but figured he must have been in someone else's room for the night,so he packed up Jesse's belongings for him thinking that the gesture would be appreciated.

Jesse was not in the hotel, Jesse was gone.

Don and Donna Ross and their son Andy are left with so many unanswered questions. Chicago police provided extensive searches of the area surrounding the hotel with no results. How can a young man simply vanish in the middle of a busy city?

Faith is the glue that holds this family together today. Hope and faith that one day Jesse will just walk in the front door.

"We pray for a sign, anything," Donna said. "We pray, 'If he is in heaven with you, that's not my first choice, but God, please give us a sign. Send me an e-mail, a phone call, something. We have to know that he's OK and with you.'

"When you lose someone you love when they pass on, you grieve and then you move on with your life," Donna said. "We are nowhere. We are still stuck in that revolving door. We know nothing more than we knew that first day."

So the search continues, hope continues, life is moving forward, but for the Ross family there is something huge missing, their son Jesse "Opie" Ross. They miss his presence, his humor, his love and life will never be the same for them until they know where Jesse might be.

The family is asking for your help. November 21st was the date of the Opiefest3 and the date that a petition and post cards were sent to the Mayor of Chicago pleading for help in Jesse's case. Please take a minute, write to the Mayor at:

Chicago Mayor's office
121 N LaSalle St. #507
Chicag, IL 60602


If you don't have the time or a stamp to mail a letter you can email your response to Jesse's family and they will make sure to send them on.


doktordsbc@aol.com



Please join us at Peace4 the Missing

Joyce Darlene Patterson

Mother is Missing - Possibly in Phoenix
August 20, 2008

To Anyone Who Reads This:

My name is Miranda Rhuda. I am 25 years old and I am from

Ohio.

In 1996, my mother Joyce Darlene Patterson, age 53, went

missing from Ohio.

Since that time, I have continually searched for her with no

assistance and no outcome. Recently, I found public records

with her name and date of birth listed online. She is in

Phoenix (somewhere). The last address given to the police

in September 2007, was 813 W. Madison Street.

This address is an industrial building which is boarded up.

I know this because a man named Jeff Knapp, who is doing

homeless ministries, has assisted me in checking it out.

I believe that she may be homeless. She may be a drifter.

In the past, she has been an alcoholic and has had very

serious mental issues. I really need to find her for family

reasons and mostly so that I can get her off the streets

and get her treatment. There is no reason for her to be

homeless and/or stealing to provide for herself. She is 5 ft.

tall, 117 lbs, brown hair, brown eyes. Her Date of Birth is

07/18/1956.

I am enclosing pictures of her. I would appreciate any help

that you may be able to give me. If you could please post this

somewhere or forward it on to someone who may be able to help me, I would greatly appreciate it.

If you or anyone else, has any information, please send me

an email at misswriter415@aol.com

Thank you and God Bless,

Miranda Rhuda


Joyce Darlene Patterson, age 52, has been missing from Ohio since 1996. She boarded a bus with a couple of individuals who offered to assist her in getting back on her feet and she vanished. She has not been seen by her family again.


In 1997, she made a phone call to her sister in Norwalk, Ohio, in a whispering tone and claimed that she was being held against her will by religious cult members. The phone call was brief and she gave no information other than she was in Arizona.


This small amount of information gave her daughter Miranda, age 14, enough information to try and start searching for her mother. Being a minor there was little that Miranda could do to try and bring her mother home. Due to her mother’s alcoholic past, there were no adults in the family to back Miranda in her search for her mother.

It has been 12 years that Miranda has been searching for her. She has written multiple letters to the Phoenix Police Department reporting her mother as missing from Ohio. Phoenix PD failed to assist her claiming that they had contact with Joyce and she was in deed not missing.

Miranda requested that Phoenix Police Department provide her with the address or phone number to contact her mother, but they refused explaining that Arizona laws states that they can not disclose that information unless the adult in question chooses to do so in their own. But how would Joyce know that her daughter is searching for her if she can not get the word out?

After many failed attempts with Phoenix authorities, Miranda took to the internet to post requests of anyone in Phoenix willing to help her locate her mother. A man named Jeff Knapp, who takes pictures of homeless individuals in Arizona, responded to her request. “He went to amazing lengths to assist me in finding my mother,” said Miranda. “It was his determination in mailing letters and flyers to officials that finally got the Phoenix PD to listen.”
November 15, 2008, Detective Eric Cosgriff with the Phoenix Police Department Missing Persons Detail contacted Miranda Rhuda and reported that he had opened a case for her mother and officially declared Joyce Darlene Patterson as a missing person.

Since that time Miranda says that she has not heard much from them. “Detective Cosgriff explained to me that they would input my mother’s information into the National Missing Persons Database so that if any officers came in contact with her, it would flag her and they would contact me to let me know she was located.

However, they still will not provide me with her information. They will give her my contact information and she can choose to contact me.”

Miranda is grateful to Phoenix PD for the steps they are taking with her mother’s case; however, she did say, “I wish they would just provide me with the contact information. I am afraid that my mother is not mentally well or is afraid to contact me due to the years that have passed without word. If this is the case, I may never be able to locate and speak to her. It is important that she knows what has happened in our family over the years that she has been gone. I need her to know that we are not angry with her and I must find her for healing to begin in our family. I need closure.”

If you can help in any way at getting the word out about Joyce Darlene Patterson, please contact Miranda Rhuda (Skinn) directly at misswriter415@aol.com Miranda is open to any suggestions and appreciates all responses provided.