Missing Woman: Janis Marie Stavros - UT - 01/02/2001

[Linda]

Case Classification: Endangered Missing
Last Contact: January 2, 2001
Location Last Seen:Canyon Rim, Utah
Description
Age : 42 Date Of Birth: June 30, 1958
Race: Caucasian Gender: Female
Height: 5'2" Weight: 110 lbs.
Hair Color: Brown Eye Color: Hazel
Dentals: unknown Fingerprints: unknown
Clothing Description: unknown
Distinguishing Marks :
Scars: unknown
Other: unknown

Case Details
Janis resided in the 2900 block of East 3215 South in Canyon Rim, Utah in 2001. She lived with her boyfriend, Robert Brent Butcher Jr. Janis remained close friends with her former husband, Michael Stavros, who also resided in the area. She, Butcher and her daughter, Meghan Laudie, had dinner at Michael's home during the evening hours of January 2, 2001. Michael and Laudie said that Janis and Butcher departed at approximately 10:00 PM. Janis has never been heard from again.

Butcher said that he departed from their home at approximately 6:00 AM on January 3 for his shift at a construction site. He claimed that Janis was asleep when he left their residence. Laudie attempted to call her mother during the afternoon hours, but Butcher told her that Janis was not at home.

Laudie and Michael reported her as a missing person on January 4, two days after Janis disappeared. Authorities searched her residence and discovered that all of Janis' personal belongings were inside, including her cellular phone. Her new puppy was also inside the house and Janis' pickup truck was parked outside. Investigators obtained a search warrant for the property and discovered a canister with marijuana residue, as well as several guns and knives. Blood and bloodstains were found on several unspecified items in the home. Cleaning products had also been placed inside Janis' vehicle.

Butcher, who has a criminal record, was jailed due to a parole violation on January 9, 2001. He has maintained his innocence in Janis' case and he has never been charged in connection with her disappearance. Laudie told authorities that Janis mentioned she and Butcher were having problems in their relationship in January 2001.

There has not been any activity on Janis' bank accounts or credit cards since her disappearance. Her loved ones said it is extremely uncharacteristic of her to leave without warning and she did not have any travel plans. Foul play is suspected in Janis' case, which remains unsolved.

Investigating Agency Information
Agency Case Number: 01-1275
Agency Name: Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office: Sergeant Jerry Townsend
Phone Number: (801) 743-5826

Print a poster: http://www.projectjason.org/aan/AAN_JanisStavros.pdf

[Linda]

http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,575039890,00.html

Holidays hurt when loved one is missing
By Laura Hancock
Deseret Morning News

Meghan Laudie baked 500 Christmas cookies recently, and she didn't keep any for herself. She doesn't eat sugar.

She started shopping for gifts in October, had the tree ready by Thanksgiving. She also filled her nights and weekends with parties and baby-sitting for friends with functions to attend.

For the past three holiday seasons, Laudie chose hustle and bustle over solitude. "That's how I stop myself from falling apart," she said.
Laudie's mother, Janis Marie Stavros, has been missing since Jan. 3, 2001. For months, there was no activity on her credit cards or bank accounts to suggest her whereabouts. Laudie, 23, eventually closed them.
There have been no sightings of Stavros, who was 42 years old when she disappeared. No body has been found. The Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office has made no arrests in connection with Stavros' disappearance, said sheriff's spokeswoman Peggy Faulkner.
Laudie believes her mother is dead. She thinks her mother trusted the wrong person and was murdered. "Parents don't just up and leave their kids," she said. "I was very close to my mom."

Families traditionally connect during Christmas, said Chloe D. Merrill, a professor of child and family studies at Weber State University, in an e-mail interview.

When loved ones are missing — whether they're children, parents, political hostages or soldiers — families are kept in limbo, hoping they're alive but at the same time often wishing to see a body — and feeling guilty about wishing to see a body.
"Having people in your life that you can talk to, complain to, cry with and laugh with represents an important stress buffer. Connecting with family members and friends becomes one of the more important ways you can insulate yourself from stress and strengthen your ability to cope," said Merrill.
When Laudie was 10, she and her younger sister woke up Christmas morning, ran to the tree and found dresses their mother had sewed for them. Laudie's was pastel blue and had puff sleeves. "I loved it."

That's her favorite Christmas memory.

For Mary and Ed Sorensen, there is a memory of a Christmas in England when he was in the Air Force. They presented their children a basket. Two miniature, wire-haired dachshund puppies were inside — a brown male and a black female. The female puppy was for the Sorensens' 2 1/2-year-old daughter, Sheree.

"Her face just lit up," Mary Sorensen said.
That was more than 36 years ago, a time when their daughter was a physical presence in their lives. On Oct. 5, 1985, then-25-year-old Sheree Warren never returned from work to her parents' house in Roy, where she was living with her small child.

Warren's body also never has been found, and authorities are at a loss to explain what happened to her. Every month or so, officers are notified of a female body found somewhere in the United States, Roy Police Capt. Jack Bell said. But when Warren's dental records are compared with the teeth of the female body, there has never yet been a match.

The Sorensens have their own theories of what happened to their daughter, usually believing she too was murdered. But Mary Sorensen acknowledged, "I don't know if I've still accepted she's not coming home."

"You never learn to completely live with it. You can deal with death. It's finality. But this is a little more complex," said Ed Sorensen. He and his wife are not concerned about justice, "we'd just like to know where she is."

Warren was always on the go and friendly. She loved children, her parents said, and started holiday traditions with her son, who was a toddler when she disappeared. The family stuffed tiny presents into plastic balls and opened them on Christmas Day.

Every day of not knowing the whereabouts of her daughter is a struggle for Mary Sorensen. At Christmastime, it's difficult because "there's always someone who says, 'What would it be like if she were here?' " she said.

Laudie believes her mother is in a better place and not all that far away. "I always talk to her in my head. It sounds kind of schizophrenic. . . . The whole supernatural thing used to freak me out. Not anymore."

[Linda]

POSTED BY NOTSODUMB101 10/6/04:
Jan we will never give up you can count on us we all love you and miss you verey MUCH.... SHAUN/KRISTA

[Linda]

http://tv.ksl.com

Friends, Family Hope for New Leads in Missing Person Case
Jun. 14, 2005
Coco Warner Reporting

It's been nearly four and a half years since Janis Stavros went missing, and even though the case has gone cold, her family and friends hope a new billboard campaign will spark new leads.

Right now you can see the Stavros billboard from Northbound I-15 at about 2800 South. Reagan Advertising donated the sign, which features Janis's photo and some contact numbers. Janis's loved ones are hoping somebody will see this billboard and add anything to this case.

Forty-three-year old Janis Stavros, along with her boyfriend and daughter, had dinner at Mike Stavros's home Tuesday night, January 2nd, 2001. That was the last time Mike saw Janis. Her friends and family tried to locate her over the next few days before finally calling the police.

Mike Stavros, Janis's Ex-husband: "We just never turned anything up. And the police seemed to come up with dead ends everywhere they turned. And it's been, it was like she went out to check the mail and never came back."

Leads led nowhere, the case went cold. But Janis is still missing and her loved ones are missing her.

Mike Stavros: "I have a wonderful girlfriend at this point, but there isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about Jan."

Shawn Harris, Family friend: "So many scenarios run through your head, and none of them are a good one, you know?"

So Shawn created a website devoted to Jan this past year, and after the police officer assigned to the case transferred into another police department, out of frustration, Shawn decided to get a billboard made for Jan.

Shawn Harris, Family Friend: "Me being in outside sales, I'm driving up and down the freeway constantly reading billboards. And one day I just thought, you know I'm going to do a billboard for Jan; let's see what it takes to do that."

Mike Stavros, Janis's Ex-husband: "The case is cold; it's getting reviewed by some clerk who puts it back into the file and we don't want that to happen, we want to find Jan. We want to know what happened."

If you have any information regarding this missing person's case, please contact the Salt Lake Sheriff's Office.

[Linda]

Friday, June 17, 2005

Can billboard help find missing woman?

By Pat Reavy
Deseret Morning News
http://tinyurl.com/8s6d2

Janis Marie Stavros disappeared more than four years ago. All leads in her case have resulted in dead ends for investigators.

Tyler Sipe, Deseret Morning News

A billboard beside I-15 near 3300 South publicizes the disappearance of Jan Stavros, missing since 2001.

But friends and family members haven't given up their search, and they don't want the public to forget about her, either.

This week a billboard with Stavros' picture was posted along I-15 near 3300 South.
"Somebody out there knows something. That's just plain and simple," said Shaun Harris, one of Stavros' friends who spearheaded the effort to get the billboard.
Stavros was reported missing by her family Jan. 4, 2001. She was last seen Jan. 3 at her home, 2910 E. 3215 South.

What made her case unusual was that Stavros vanished without a trace. Her car was still parked at her house, her cell phone was still at home as well as all of her clothes, and there was never any record of her credit card being used anywhere in the United States. Her pets, including a new puppy, were also left unattended.

"Usually you have something to show something occurred. But at this point in time, she's just gone," said detective Cortney Nelson, who led the investigation into Stavros' disappearance with the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office and now works for the Taylorsville Police Department.

The case may not been in the news for some time, but friends say they haven't stopped thinking about her.

"The problem with a missing person is like an MIA, the problem never really goes away. You never stop thinking about it. You never have closure," said Michael Stavros, Jan's ex-husband.

Michael and Jan Stavros were divorced when she disappeared but remained good friends.
Harris, who drives I-15 every day for his job, said he got the idea for a billboard to put Stavros' name and face into the spotlight again.

"For three years no one has talked about (her case)," he said.

After Reagan Outdoor Advertising learned the billboard's purpose, Harris said, the company refunded his money and donated the space.
"Maybe the person who did it will have enough guilt to step forward or someone will step forward and tell us something," Michael Stavros said.

The sheriff's office handles Stavros' disappearance as a missing person case. It isn't regarded as a "cold case" because there is no physical evidence showing a homicide has occurred.

But Nelson said there is also no evidence to suggest Stavros simply left on her own.

Stavros lived with Robert Brent Butcher Jr. at the time of her disappearance. Butcher has several criminal convictions over the past 10 years and recently spent time in federal prison.

Nelson, who said the Stavros case was still open, called Butcher a "person of interest" in the case. He also noted that to date, he is the only person of interest in the investigation.

The Deseret Morning News called the number listed for Robert B. Butcher Thursday. A person who said his name was Robert Butcher took the call but said he was not the one who lived with Stavros. When asked whether he knew the Butcher who did live her, he replied "I might" and ended the phone call.

Nelson said he supports the billboard.

"Anything you can do to keep something in the public eye and refresh people's memories," he said. "It helps us considerably. It reminds people she is still missing. Those who might have information might come forward with that info and bring that case to a conclusion."

Harris said he has mixed emotions about his friend's situation. He hopes she is simply enjoying life on a beach somewhere but knows the probability is that she is dead.
"There will never be closure. That's not a word for me," he said. "If she's dead, we want a proper burial."

But even if her body is found, Harris said he will always have questions, which is why he doesn't believe he can fully have closure.
Meanwhile, he encourages everyone to look at the billboard as they drive by. Any little tip could help, he said.

"Even something that doesn't seem very beneficial to (others) might mean a complete difference to us," he said.

Anyone with information on Stavros can call the sheriff's office at 743-7000.

E-mail: preavy@desnews.com

[Linda]

Janis has now been missing for 6 years.

[Linda]

From Janis's website:
Jan Stavros Missing, Home

It is very unfortunate that we don't have any new info to write about. We still keep Jan in our prayers and thoughts everyday. We check with the SLC police Dept. every so often just to keep her from being lost in the cold case files. We hope that other people will call now and again to keep her files on the desks of the detectives. Phone # is (801)743-7000. We hope someday we will find answers.

[Linda]

Janis Marie Stavros

Janis Marie Stavros

Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance

Missing Since: January 2, 2001 from Canyon Rim, Utah
Classification: Endangered Missing
Date Of Birth: June 30, 1958
Age: 42
Height: 5'2"
Weight: 110 lbs.
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Hazel
Race: White
Gender: Female
Distinguishing Characteristics: Wears eyeglasses.
NCIC Number: M-781299918
 
Details of Disappearance
Janis resided in the 2900 block of East 3215 South in Canyon Rim, Utah in 2001. She lived with her boyfriend, Robert Brent Butcher Jr. Janis remained close friends with her former husband, Michael Stavros, who also resided in the area. She, Butcher and her daughter, Meghan Laudie, had dinner at Michael's home during the evening hours of January 2, 2001. Michael and Laudie said that Janis and Butcher departed at approximately 10:00 PM. Butcher said that he departed from their home at approximately 6:00 AM on January 3 for his shift at a construction site. He claimed that Janis was asleep when he left their residence. Laudie attempted to call her mother during the afternoon hours, but Butcher told her that Janis was not at home.

Laudie and Michael reported her as a missing person on January 4, two days after Janis disappeared. Authorities searched her residence and discovered that all of Janis' personal belongings were inside, including her cellular phone. Her new puppy was also inside the house and Janis' pickup truck was parked outside. Investigators obtained a search warrant for the property and discovered a canister with marijuana residue, as well as several guns and knives. Blood and bloodstains were found on several unspecified items in the home. Cleaning products had also been placed inside Janis' vehicle.

Butcher, who has a criminal record, was jailed due to a parole violation on January 9, 2001. He has maintained his innocence in Janis' case and he has never been charged in connection with her disappearance. Laudie told authorities that Janis mentioned she and Butcher were having problems in their relationship in January 2001.

There has not been any activity on Janis' bank accounts or credit cards since her disappearance. Her loved ones said it is extremely uncharacteristic of her to leave without warning and she did not have any travel plans. Foul play is suspected in Janis' case.

Investigating Agency
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office
Courtny Neilson
(801) 743-7000

Source Information
Utah Criminal Tracking and Analysis Project
Rino Kids
The Deseret News
Jan Stavros Missing

[Kelly]

Jan has been missing for 7 years today. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family.

Print a poster: http://www.projectjason.org/aan/AAN_JanisStavros.pdf

[Kelly]

AAN Notify Sent. Code 23

Help us find the missing: Become an AAN Member
http://www.projectjason.org/awareness.html

[Kelly]

AAN Annual Poster Notify Sent to AAN Subscribers   Code 33

Help us find the missing: Become an AAN Member
http://www.projectjason.org/awareness.html

[LoriDavis]

https://www.findthemissing.org/cases/1381
NamUs profile for Janis Marie Stavros

[Kelly]

AAN Annual Poster Notify Sent to AAN Subscribers   Code 62

Help us find the missing: Become an AAN Member and receive notifications about missing persons via email.

Click here to become a part of the solution: http://www.projectjason.org/awareness.shtml

[Kelly]

Families of the missing want solace
Disappearances » Utah's official database lists 56 persons, including Susan Powell.

By Brooke Adams

The Salt Lake Tribune
Updated: 01/02/2010 07:34:49 PM MST

  For 15 years, Stephanie Amandia Cook has marked her mother's disappearance by writing her a letter and sending it skyward with a bunch of balloons.

The letters detail Cook's life and things she wishes they could have shared together. This year Cook, who was 5 when her mother Bobbi Ann Campbell vanished on Dec. 27, 1994, wrote about her wedding.

"Every year that goes by is just another year that people put it behind them," said Cook, 20. "It is just harder to keep the hope."

And every time there is news that a mother is missing, the heartache intensifies. This time, it is Susan Powell's story that has riveted Cook. Powell, mother of sons ages 4 and 2, was reported missing from her West Valley City home on Dec. 7.

"I just hurt for those little kids," Cook said. "I pray that they don't have to grow up with no answers like I did."

That pain is shared by families throughout Utah who have had loved ones disappear with few clues to what happened to them or why. The Utah Missing Persons Clearinghouse, the state's official database, now features Powell in addition to 55 others.

Of those, 42 are adults ages 19 or older. A majority -- 26 -- of those adults are men. A number of cases on the list involve suspicious circumstances that suggest foul play. Names are added only with permission of family or law enforcement.

It's not a complete list, acknowledges Gina McNeil. Across Utah, missing persons reports pour in

daily. In Salt Lake County, for instance, the sheriff's office had received 157 reports in 2009 as of Dec. 30 -- a count that doesn't include runaway children.

Spokesman Don Hutson said most cases are resolved quickly after a person returns or is located and relays they left by choice. Those that make the state database stay there until a person is found or a body recovered. Kiplyn Davis of Spanish Fork is listed, for example, though authorities and her family believe she was killed after she disappeared in 1995.

The oldest case dates to the 1970s: Jennifer Klein, 3, disappeared in May 1974 while camping with her family in Moab near a river. Klein's entry notes her family doesn't recall anyone at the campground being interviewed or vehicles searched.

Since then, investigative techniques, technology and media have vastly altered efforts to locate missing persons. Information about Susan Powell, for instance, spread worldwide via the Internet within days of her disappearance.

Advances in DNA matching have allowed investigators to rework old cases, as has age progression imaging.

Bobbi Ann Campbell's case is one that received new attention earlier this year after the group "Project Jason" released a photograph that showed how she might have aged.

Campbell was 24 when left her daughter with a friend while she picked up a paycheck from SOS Staffing Services in Salt Lake City, went to the bank and then the grocery store. She never picked up her check. Investigators believe Campbell, who had struggled with drugs, was spotted about six months later at a park.

That fall, Campbell's vehicle was found abandoned in front of a home near the Jordan River. Inside the vehicle, family found her makeup, purse, clothes and even Christmas presents from the previous year.

Cook, who was raised by her great-grandparents, said they did everything they could to find her at the time. Several years ago, Cook took up the charge and contacted every missing persons Web site she could find to spread word about her mother. Cook also submitted a DNA sample that could be compared to any unidentified bodies found.

"I pass out fliers once every so often," Cook said. "I did it this summer at Liberty Park because that is where we would hang out all the time when I was little. That is all I can do.

"I hope that something happened and she is just confused and scared to come home," Cook said. "I honestly don't think she could have left me because of how close we were."

Occasionally, a missing adult resurfaces -- or Sarah Jensen of Orem.

Jensen left home on May 25 to camp for a few days in southern Utah. Jensen's family reported the 31-year-old mother missing a week later when she failed to return home. As a search began, Jensen's parents said their daughter would "never, never" have left her 5-year-old son for so long, said Hutson.

Three weeks later -- as Jensen's family prepared to hold a candlelight vigil -- Jensen was pulled over during a routine traffic stop in New Mexico. Jensen told police she had been staying with friends and had not wanted to be contacted for a while, though she did return to Utah at that point.

In such cases, there is little police can do, Hutson said.

"It is not a crime to walk away from your marriage, to walk away from your job or leave your family behind," he said.

Sometimes, there are sad discoveries.

In November, 51-year-old Katherine S. Doutre of Hooper disappeared after dropping off her son at Roy High School. Doutre did not take her cell phone, wallet, car or keys and was distraught; she had taken off in the past for hours but always returned. When a day passed, family contacted police. Searches turned up nothing, though there were several credible sightings of Doutre.

A month later, Doutre's body was found in a previously searched field near West Haven. Police determined she had died of exposure, probably not long after she disappeared.

Often, though, a missing person is never found.

Family are left with unanswered questions and, at some point, the sad tasks of cleaning out homes, disposing of possessions, ending marriages, taking care of estates and other legal matters.

Lee "Bill" Frost never got over the disappearance of his daughter Debra, who was 17 when she vanished in 1984. She was last seen around 10 p.m. in downtown Salt Lake City, at the Mountain Bell Plaza.

Frost, a taxi driver, died in 2005. His obituary noted that Debra's disappearance "sadly altered Bill's life forever." Later that year when his estate was settled, a court ordered that Debra's shared be given to her siblings.

The daughters of Janis Stavros, missing since Jan. 3, 2001, had their mother declared legally dead last year, said Stavros' ex-husband Mike.

Mike Stavros and his ex-wife, her boyfriend and daughter Meghan Laudie had a dinner together on Jan. 2.

He said that "at some point things got weird" and Stavros and her boyfriend left about 10 p.m. to return to her Millcreek home.

The next day, Stavros' daughter could not reach her and sounded the alarm. Her boyfriend told police Stavros was home when he left for work earlier that morning. Police found her vehicle, purse and cell phone in her home, but Stavros was gone and searches turned up nothing.

"There is absolutely nothing new," Mike Stavros said. "I wish there was.

"It's impossible to not endlessly wonder what happened," said Stavros, who now is remarried. "We know she's gone, that is all we know. When you get no answers, there is an empty feeling that goes with that."

Hutson said Stavros' case haunts him. He was a sergeant when Stavros disappeared and worked on the investigation.

"It was literally as if she was wiped off the face of the earth," he said. "Nothing was taken. It wasn't like she was in a bad marriage. There were no signs of a struggle in the home and all her belongings were left at home."

Dennis Montague, whose wife Lark Mosher Montague disappeared in September 2007, said that search also "hit a dead-end street." She drove off in the early morning and hasn't been seen or heard from since.

"We can't find the car or anything," he said. "We can't find nothing."

Meantime, her family has marked time and family events without her, including the death of her youngest son last year. His obituary listed his mother, but did not mention that she is missing.

Hutson said it becomes more difficult to solve cases as times passes without new information or evidence.

The one thing that doesn't change?

"There are families who would appreciate having some answers," he said.

[Denise Harrison]

Janis Stavros is among the featured people for February in The Garden for the Missing/Project Jason advertising program within the 3D virtual world, Second Life. The posters are showcased at one of the highest traffic areas in the 3D virtual world, with 45,000 daily visitors from the U.S. and abroad.



These advertisements are purchased by The Garden for the Missing http://www.gardenforthemissing.org/. More information about our efforts in Second Life is available at http://www.projectjason.org/SecondLife.shtml] [url]http://www.projectjason.org/SecondLife.shtml[/url]

The advertisements for each person is displayed for two weeks, then another person’s poster appears. The posters are provided by Project Jason’s Awareness Angels Network -- http://www.projectjason.org/awareness.html