Where the Missing Still Wait
While spending time in Norman, I made the short drive over to Oklahoma City to meet with advocates who are on the front lines of one of the most heartbreaking and urgent issues facing our state—the epidemic of missing persons in Oklahoma.
This isn’t just a local issue. This is a statewide crisis, and the statistics are staggering. According to NamUs, there are currently 115 people listed as missing in Oklahoma City alone. Statewide, over 600 people are missing, more than 100 remain unidentified, and more than 1,000 homicide cases remain unsolved. Oklahoma has the highest rate of missing persons per capita in the United States—with 16 missing people per 100,000 residents. That’s not a number we can ignore. That’s a call to action.
Part of this crisis involves a disproportionate impact on Native communities. The MMIP crisis (Missing and Murdered Indigenous People) is real—and it’s devastating. Indigenous women, girls, and Two Spirit individuals are disappearing and being murdered at alarming rates, often with little to no media coverage or law enforcement response.
Oklahoma is my home. It’s where I was born and raised. And these numbers aren’t just data points—they are people. They are families. They are stories like Shannon Patrick Ketron and Melissa Sue Flores, both of whom went missing in Washita County, the very county I grew up in.
Shannon Patrick Ketron
Date Missing: June 17, 1982
Age: 7 months
Location: Cordell, Oklahoma
Agency: FBI – 405-290-7770
Shannon was just a baby. His mother was driving from Buffalo to Lawton when she pulled off Highway 183. A man pulled up beside her, told her she looked like his ex-wife, and knocked her unconscious. When she woke up, Shannon—and a green duffel bag—were gone. He has never been found.
Melissa Sue Flores
Date Missing: January 27, 2007
Age: 27
Location: Cordell, Oklahoma
Agency: OSBI – 580-248-4050
Melissa was a mother of three. She disappeared after attending a party the night before. Her car was later found at her boyfriend’s house, with her purse inside—but she was gone. Years later, Ronnie Denny was convicted of her murder in a no-body case after a witness claimed to have helped dispose of her remains. But Melissa’s body has never been found. Her children still wait for the day they can lay her to rest.
There are hundreds more just like Shannon and Melissa—missing, forgotten, silenced.
But there is hope. Organizations like Oklahoma Cold Cases are doing phenomenal work to bring visibility to these cases and push for answers. I urge you to visit their website, learn these names, and share their stories.
This crisis demands more than awareness—it demands accountability, advocacy, and bold voices who will not stop until the missing are found and the murdered are given justice.
Oklahoma is more than a statistic. These people are more than case numbers. And their stories matter.
If you know something—about any of these cases or others—please speak up. One piece of information could be the key to bringing someone home.
Let’s not look away. Let’s not stay quiet. Let’s light the way
.