Nationality American Home town Charlotte, NC | Name National for | |
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Born June 1, 1979 Danbury, Connecticut Disappeared June 23, 1997
Crocker Galleria Mall
San Francisco, California Status Missing for 18 years, 6 months and 13 days Known for Missing person, believed murdered Parent(s) Bob and Debbie Modafferi | ||
The National Center for Missing Adults is a United States organization which assists in tracking missing adults.
The organization was created in response to the disappearance of Kristen Modafferi of Charlotte, North Carolina, who vanished without a trace on June 23, 1997, three weeks after her eighteenth birthday. Having just completed her freshman year at North Carolina State University on a Park Scholarship, she had traveled to the San Francisco Bay Area for the summer to study photography at the University of California, Berkeley. Because she was 18 at the time of her disappearance, the lack of resources available for searching for her were noted.
Kristen's Act was introduced by Representative Sue Myrick in 1999 and signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 2000. From 2001-2004, Kristen's Law "provided assistance to law enforcement and families in missing persons cases of those over the age of 17" and authorized $1M per year to support organizations including the National Center for Missing Adults.
The center's federal funding ran out in 2005 when Kristen's Law expired. It has continued with volunteer efforts. Modafferi's case has been profiled on Unsolved Mysteries, Primetime Live and America's Most Wanted. It remains unsolved.