Missing
Sheri Lynn Swims
Swims, approximately 2003
Date and time person was reported missing : 08/19/1986
Missing location (approx) :
Homestead, Florida
Missing classification : Endangered Missing
Gender : Female
Ethnicity :
White
DOB : 10/30/1962 (58)
Age at the time of disappearance: 23 years old
Height / Weight : 5'5 - 5'7, 124 pounds
Description, clothing, jewerly and more : A dressy white midriff tank top, a multicolored skirt and pink leather thong sandals or a white t-shirt, faded blue jeans, aqua pumps with brown trim, a brown belt with silver studs, and several gold chains.
Distinguishing characteristics, birthmarks, tattoos
: Caucasian female. Blonde hair, hazel/blue eyes. Swims has a lazy left eye, but it is not always noticeable. Her hair may have red streaks. Her right ear is pierced twice and her left ear is pierced once. She has a bubble-type scar on her upper left arm, a half-inch scar below her left eye across her cheekbone, and a scar above her left knee. Swims wears a complete set of upper dentures and a partial set of lower dentures.
Information on the case from local sources, may or may not be correct : Swims was left the Doubleheader Bar and Grill in Homestead, Florida with two male acquaintances on August 19, 1986. At 4:00 a.m., a police officer stopped her and one of the men in an area known for drug trafficking. After a records check, the officer let both of them go.
Swims has never been heard from again. The man she was last known to be with stated she became hysterical and jumped out of his vehicle and he never saw her after that. Her mother reported her missing.
In 2003 a Florida prison inmate, Michael Scott Segal, told investigators Swims had been murdered and her body was buried beneath a waterfall at a house in the 23000 block of southwest 170th Court. He said the killer was one of the men who had been with Swims on the night of her disappearance, and that this man confessed the murder to Segal in the fall of 1986. Authorities excavated the property in 2007, but no evidence was located there and they do not plan to search again.
Swims was employed as a waitress at the Neighbors restaurant at the time of her disappearance, and had an infant son. Her case remains unsolved.
Other information and links : ncy
Miami-Dade County Police Department
305-471-8477
September 2021 updates and sources
Florida Department of Law Enforcement
The Doe Network
The Miami Herald
NBC 6
A missing person is a person who has disappeared and whose status as alive or dead cannot be confirmed as their location and condition are not known. A person may go missing through a voluntary disappearance, or else due to an accident, crime, death in a location where they cannot be found (such as at sea), or many other reasons. In most parts of the world, a missing person will usually be found quickly. While criminal abductions are some of the most widely reported missing person cases, these account for only 2�5% of missing children in Europe.
By contrast, some missing person cases remain unresolved for many years. Laws related to these cases are often complex since, in many jurisdictions, relatives and third parties may not deal with a person's assets until their death is considered proven by law and a formal death certificate issued. The situation, uncertainties, and lack of closure or a funeral resulting when a person goes missing may be extremely painful with long-lasting effects on family and friends.
Several organizations seek to connect, share best practices, and disseminate information and imAge at the time of disappearance: s of missing children to improve the effectiveness of missing children investigations, including the International Commission on Missing Persons, the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), as well as national organizations, including the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in the US, Missing People in the UK, Child Focus in Belgium, and The Smile of the Child in Greece.
Interactive Missing Person Search Map
