Vanished: Disappearances that captured headlines in 2014
Hannah Graham
Back in September, officials in Charlottesville, Va. launched a frantic search for University of Virginia student Hannah Graham, who disappeared in the early morning hours of Sept. 13 after attending two off-campus parties and texting a friend she was lost.
Police later charged 32-year-old Jesse Leroy Matthew Jr. with abducting the college sophomore. Matthew was seen with Graham at a bar on Charlottesville's downtown pedestrian mall that morning, police say, and they believe she may have been in his car when he left.
The hospital patient technician was arrested camping on a beach in Galveston, Texas Sept. 24.
Matthew has also been charged with rape and attempted murder in a 2005 Fairfax City sexual assault, and police say he's linked by forensic evidence to the 2009 disappearance of Virginia Tech student Morgan Harrington, who was later found dead.
After a six-week search, Graham's remains were found Oct. 18 just miles from where she was last seen. At a memorial service, friends remembered the British-born student for her intelligence, dry humor and zeal for life.
Relisha Rudd
Washington, D.C. girl Relisha Rudd was 8 when she was last seen March 1 the D.C. General Family Shelter. This is where she had been staying with her mother and stepfather for a year and a half. The suspect in her disappearance, shelter janitor Kahlil Tatum, was also named a suspect in the killing of his 51-year-old wife.
Authorities didn't realize Rudd was missing until March 19, following her repeated absences from school. Andrea Tatum was found shot to death that day in a Maryland motel room in March by authorities investigating Rudd's disappearance.
Kahlil Tatum was found dead in an apparent suicide March 31 in Northeast Washington's Kenilworth Park.
Critics questioned how an employee of a district-run shelter could abduct the girl and how she could have remained missing for so long without any district agencies taking notice, reported the Washington Post.
There is still no sign of Rudd, who would have turned 9 Oct. 29. She is feared dead.
Jennifer Huston
The July disappearance of Oregon mom Jennifer Huston sparked a massive search and drew the national spotlight.
The married mother of two vanished July 24 after going out to do some errands. She was last seen that day withdrawing a small amount of money from an ATM, fueling her SUV and buying Gatorade, trail mix and what police described as a nonlethal amount of sleeping pills.
Her family pleaded publicly for her return, saying it was unlike her to remain out of contact with family for so long.
The search came to a tragic end Aug. 5 when Huston's body was found a short distance away from her car, about 25 miles southwest of her home in Dundee. Officials said she had committed suicide.
"Our hearts ache today," the family said in a statement. "We don't know what led Jennifer to this dark place and to this end and perhaps never will understand this. We are incredibly thankful to family, friends, community and media for their searching, supporting and getting the information out that lead to locating Jennifer's car and finding Jennifer."
Shane Montgomery
The search for Shane Montgomery, a West Chester University senior, is still ongoing as 2014 comes to a close.
The 21-year-old was last seen in the early morning hours of Thanksgiving Day at Kildare's Irish Pub in Philadelphia, and was escorted out of the bar at about 2 a.m. that Thursday when he bumped into DJ equipment, his mother said. Montgomery hasn't been seen since.
Family, volunteers and officials have launched a massive search, including of the Manayunk Canal and the Schuylkill River, but there's still been no sign of Shane.
His mother, Karen Montgomery, remains hopeful.
"I have a tough time getting out of bed every day, but I made a promise that I was going to find Shane. And I'm going to find him," Montgomery told CBS Philly.
Carlesha Freeland-Gaither
The abduction of 22-year-old Carlesha Freeland-Gaither from a Philadelphia street Nov. 2 was captured on chilling surveillance video that was aired widely by the national news media. Freeland-Gaither was shown struggling with her attacker as he dragged her into a car.
Surveillance images captured the suspect, later identified as Delvin Barnes, using Freeland-Gaither's ATM card at a bank in Aberdeen, Md. just hours after the investigation.
Barnes was also wanted Charles City County Sheriff's Department in Virginia, outside Richmond for the October abduction and rape of a 16-year-old girl. Investigators there realized Barnes was driving a car from a local dealership that sells to customers with credit problems and typically places GPS tracking on their vehicles.
The local department tipped off a federal task force to Barnes' identity and the existence of the GPS device, leading to Barnes' Nov. 5 arrest in Maryland and the dramatic rescue of Freeland-Gaither, a nursing student.
Freeland-Gaither has been re-united with her family.
Holly Bobo
2014 brought dramatic updates in the 2011 disappearance of Tennessee nursing student Holly Bobo.
Bobo was 20 when she disappeared in April 13, 2011. Her brother told police he saw a man dressed in camouflage leading her away into the woods. Investigators, family and volunteers combed the area, but turned up nothing.
In March, a grand jury indicted Tennessee man Zachary Adams with especially aggravated kidnapping and first-degree felony murder in the case. 39-year-old Jason Autry was also later charged with kidnapping and murder, and Adam's brother, 26-year-old Dylan Adams, was charged with two counts of rape.
Then, Sept. 8, Bobo's remains were discovered in Decatur County, not far from her home in the town of Parsons. The remains were reportedly found not far from property owned by the family of Zachary Adams.
Paul Kitterman
The case of missing Denver Broncos fan Paul Kitterman captured the national spotlight in October, especially after the bizarre circumstances of his return left more questions than answers.
The 53-year-old Kitterman of Kremmling, Colo. disappeared Oct. 23 after leaving his seat at halftime during a Denver-San Diego game at Sports Authority Field.
Though police initially said they didn't see a criminal element to the disappearance, his stepson, who also attended the game, pleaded for the public's help in finding him, calling the disappearance uncharacteristic.
Kitterman turned up safe a week later in a parking lot in Pueblo, more than 100 miles south of the stadium, telling police he "had his fill of football and that he likes to walk and wander, and he was looking for a warmer place."
In a statement, Kitterman's family said they understood the many questions from the public regarding why Kitterman left, but asked for privacy.
"We love all of you and we will never forget your kindness, compassion and your willingness to help find Paul," they said.
Christina Morris
Texas woman Christina Morris was last seen after a night out with friends Saturday, Aug. 30, walking into a parking garage at an upscale Plano development with a former classmate, Enrique Gutierrez Arochi.
Her family didn't realize she was missing until she didn't show up for work the following Tuesday after the long Labor Day weekend. They found her car still parked in the garage.
Her disappearance sparked a massive search. Arochi told police that Morris, 23, went to her car and he went to his after the two were seen walking together on surveillance video that morning.
However, police later questioned his story, alleging in a search warrant that he lied and apparently had injuries and damage to his car after Morris' disappearance. Officials said the most likely way she could have left the garage was in Arochi's car.
Arochi was arrested Dec. 13 and charged with aggravated kidnapping.
Morris remains missing.
Fehintola Omidele
The Nov. 30 disappearance of a young Houston doctor sparked concern from family and garnered the national spotlight.
Fehintola Omidele, 25, who is in her first year in residency at Memorial Hermann medical center in Houston specializing in pediatrics, was reported missing when she didn't show up for work.
Family went to her apartment and found her cell phone there, but her Toyota Camry was missing. They said it was unlike the hard-working young resident to be out of touch with family and friends.
More than a week later, family said Omidele phoned her sister from El Campo, a city about 70 miles southwest of Houston, letting her know that she was safe.
Omidele returned home the same day.