Bianca Noel Piper Missing: Operation Cyber Tip - Helping Bring Awareness to Missing Childrens Cases

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Bianca Noel Piper

Left/Center: Bianca, circa 2005; Right: Age-progression at age 15 (circa 2007)

http://www.findbianca.org/

Information

Missing Since: March 10, 2005 from Foley, Missouri
Classification: Endangered Missing
Date Of Birth: December 26, 1991
Age: 13 years old
Height and Weight: 5'6, 185 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian female. Brown hair, brown eyes. Piper's nickname is B and some agencies refer to her as Bianca Tanner. She has scars on her arms and legs and a scar on her abdomen. Her ears are pierced. Piper may wear her hair in a ponytail.
Clothing/Jewelry Description: A lime green blouse, a gray Adidas hooded sweatshirt, blue jeans and white sneakers.
Medical Conditions: Piper is mentally disabled; she has the capacity of a second-grader. She also suffers from attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and severe bipolar disorder, for which she was hospitalized for in early childhood. Piper has mood swings, aggressive tendencies, periodic anxiety attacks, and difficulties with self-control as a result of her conditions; however, she often acts like a normal teenager and it may be difficult to tell she is ill. She takes several daily medications and if she does not take them, she may become disoriented and have hallucinations. Piper may be in need of medical attention.

Background

Piper was last seen at approximately 6:15 p.m. on March 10, 2005, when her mother dropped her off at McIntosh Hill Road in Foley, Missouri, about a mile from their home. Piper had been having anger management problems and had a tantrum about chores before her disappearance. Her doctor had advised Piper's mother to drive her a distance from home and make her walk back alone to deal with her aggression. Piper and her mother had tried the treatment only once prior to March 10, but it had been successful, and Piper requested that it be done again. She also asked to be dropped off further from home than she had before. She never arrived home and has never been heard from again. Her mother reported her missing at 8:20 p.m. Piper was carrying a flashlight at the time of her disappearance.
Investigators at first believed Piper became lost on her way back home. If this theory is correct she would have succumbed to exposure in a short time; temperatures in the area the evening of her disappearance dropped below freezing. However, since an extensive search turned up no sign of Piper, authorities now think she may have been abducted. She has no history of running away from home. Her mother and her mother's live-in boyfriend have both passed polygraph tests, her biological father was extensively interviewed, and none of her family members are considered suspects in the case.
In 2007, investigators began investigating Michael J. Devlin for possible involvement in Piper's disappearance and in several other cases, including the 1991 disappearance of Charles "Arlin" Henderson, and the 1988 disappearance of Scott Kleeschulte. Shawn Hornbeck, a fifteen-year-old boy who was kidnapped in 2002, and William "Ben" Ownby, a thirteen-year-old boy who disappeared in 2007, were both found alive and well in Devlin's house in January 2007. Ownby had been missing for five days and Hornbeck for over four years. Both boys had been held against their will by Devlin, and have since been reunited with their searching families. It should be emphasized that Devlin has not been charged in any cases besides Ownby and Hornbeck's, and thus far the investigation has not shown any strong links between him and any other children.
Piper was an eighth-grader at Winfield Middle School at the time of her disappearance and was in special education classes. Her teachers stated she is artistically talented. Her case remains unsolved.

Photographs and Images

Area of Dissappearance - MacIntosh Hill Road - One Mile from home She was travelling West along this road

Area of Dissappearance - Wider View - Foley and River

Videos and News Clips

KSDK NewsChannel 5 - Bianca Piper Case Gets National Help

Created: 3/15/2005 5:28:23 PM
(KSDK) -- Bianca Piper, 13, vanished almost a week ago. On Tuesday, her parents spoke to national and local media in an attempt to bring more attention to the case.

Bianca's parents say they are getting help from people around the region. Bianca's mother says she recently talked to Shawn Hornbeck's mother, since both are still looking for a missing child. Shannon Tanner says she was encouraged and simply told to not lose hope.
The Bianca Piper case is also getting some national help from an organization founded to find and protect children.

The National Center For Missing and Exploited Children has activated its "Team Adam Project" and one of its consultants is no stranger to tough cases around here.

Joe Burgoon has brought his 27 years as a St. Louis police homicide investigator to the front of the Bianca Noel Piper case. Retired and now a consultant for the National Center For Missing And Exploited Children's "Team Adam Project," Burgoon says time may be the key to this case.

"Team Adam" is a rapid response concept that is privately funded. The project covers the cost of hundreds of thousands of flyers that are now posted throughout the area, with Bianca's picture.

"The efforts of volunteers is getting the flyers where they need to be, inside schools, in restaurants, in gas stations and convenience stores," said Burgoon.

They have faxed 120,000 flyers nationwide and offered counseling free of charge to members of the missing teens family.

"The Adam Project" was named for 6-year-old Adam Walsh, who in 1981 was abducted and murdered in Hollywood, Florida.

Since then, the center has consulted with police and sheriff's departments on how to best search for missing children, and support their parents.

Burgoon says shock may be one reason why Bianca's piper's mother has been relatively unseen in the search for her daughter, until today.

"They're just devastated their worried, they don't know where to turn," said Burgoon.

Lincoln County authorities say the search for Bianca has now covered 150 square miles. On Tuesday hundreds of volunteers and professional search teams are continuing to search dense, forested areas near water.

Sheriff Dan Torres says his department shares many of "Team Adam" suggestions, and is staying close to the family. "We have an actual detective assigned to them, and a victims advocate assigned to them and they go with them everywhere they go, they keep them aware of everything."

Along with retired FBI agent Bill Raynor, Burgoon says his center will keep him on the case, as long as necessary.

The National Center For Missing And Exploited Children was created in 1984, since then it's helped return more than 71,000 children to their families.

KSDK NewsChannel 5 - Foundation Offers Reward In Bianca Piper Case

Created: 3/23/2005 4:11:09 PM
(KSDK)-Lincoln County investigators hope a $5,000 reward will bring new leads in the search for Bianca Piper, 13.

Police say they are actively working the case, but they've received few leads in the last several days.

They say every day that passes, it's less likely that Bianca is in the area, because they would have recovered some type of evidence.

They say the money could lead to new tips.

Lincoln County Sheriff Dan Torres explained, "It helps some people who are a little reluctant, you know, to come forward. It does help in these matters because there is some information people don't think is that important but really it is. Anything at all can benefit us in the case."

"I ask anybody please who has information about my daughter," said Bianca's mother, Shannon Tanner, as she displayed photo of her daughter, "I miss her very much. Please help us get her home safely to her family."

The reward was posted by the Carole Sund Karrington Foundation.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the Lincoln County Sheriff's Department.

KSDK NewsChannel 5 - Foundation Offers Reward In Bianca Piper Case

Created: 3/23/2005 4:11:09 PM
(KSDK)-One year ago, then thirteen-year-old Bianca Piper disappeared after her mother said she dropped her off on a bridge near her home in Lincoln County, Missouri.

Friday night, more than a dozen people gathered for a prayer service on the remote McIntosh Road bridge, near Foley. Quoting from scripture, Pastor Jim Blue, of Sunrise United Methodist Church, had words of encouragement for Bianca's loved ones. "Later in that same chapter, Chapter 8, Paul says, 'If God is for us, who can be against us... Does it mean He no longer loves us, if we have trouble, or calamity?'"

Despite continuing their investigation, Lincoln County Sheriff's deputies have no new leads. Bianca's family says they believe someone knows what happened to her, and they are hoping the one-year anniversary of her disappearance prompts someone to come forward.

Bianca's grandfather, Guy Young, said, "That's all I can hope for right now. Somebody knows something. And I'm just hoping they'll open their heart enough to let out a little information."

One of Bianca's grandmothers, Carol Young, lead those in attendance in the Lord's Prayer. "Give us this day, our daily bread..." Later, overwhelmed with grief, Young was comforted by friends.

There is a ten-thousand dollar reward for information about what happened to Bianca Piper.

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