What missing persons cases are still active in Erie? The eight cases police hope to solve
When Erie police Detective Sgt. Craig Stoker was named the Erie Bureau of Police's cold case investigator in October 2022 under a state grant the city obtained to fund the position, his caseload included a number of unresolved missing persons cases in the city.
Stoker has since whittled down the list of known missing persons cases in Erie from more than a dozen to eight, including the February 1983 disappearance of 16-year-old Bryan Fisher.
Other missing persons cases that remain open and under investigation by Stoker are:
Nellie F. Cornman Flickinger
Flickinger was last seen in Erie in March 1979. Cornman Flickinger, 30 at the time of her disappearance, left her five children with her mother and reportedly went to California with a man to get her life in order, family members reported in 2008 Erie Times-News articles. The man Cornman Flickinger left with was reportedly a Marine stationed in California, but family members said they did not know his name.
At the time of her disappearance, Cornman Flickinger was described as 5 feet 3 inches tall and 130 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. A motorcycle accident left her with screws and plates in her leg, and she has numerous scars due to skin grafts, according to information on The Doe Network missing persons website.
Raymond S. Poland
Poland was reported missing in August 2001. Poland, then 35, was last reported to have been seen by his mother over Thanksgiving 2000. A native of the Pittsburgh area, Poland moved to Erie several years before his disappearance with his younger brother, James, and worked various jobs before reportedly battling an alcohol problem and falling on some hard times. Erie police said he was known to spend time at local homeless shelters.
Poland was described at the time of his disappearance as 5 feet 11 inches tall and 160 pounds, with brown eyes and light brown hair. He has scars on both forearms and a mole on his right forearm.
Sabrina M. Kahler
Kahler was last seen in June 2002. Kahler, then 20, went swimming with an acquaintance at Eagley Park in Springfield Township and was last seen by a Pennsylvania State Police trooper at an ice cream stand in that area. The acquaintance told police he dropped Kahler off at the West Erie Plaza to see a movie, but investigators said they never found any evidence confirming that Kahler reached that destination. Numerous searches in the days and weeks after Kahler's disappearance failed to turn up any clues to her possible whereabouts.
At the time of her disappearance, Kahler was described as 5 feet 1 to 5 feet 3 inches tall and 125 to 135 pounds, with sandy hair and blue eyes. She has pierced ears.
Stephen M. Ziegler
Ziegler was last seen in May 2005. Ziegler, then 34, was last seen leaving a former tavern in the 900 block of Weschler Avenue, where he had eaten a meal that was paid for by another man, according to police. Ziegler, once a star basketball player for Cathedral Preparatory School, was difficult to track because he had virtually nothing in his name, including a mortgage or rental agreement, credit cards or phone bill, investigators said a year after his disappearance. Police and a private investigator told the Erie Times-News in a 2006 story that the man who was reportedly with Ziegler the night he disappeared denied being with him, other acquaintances could not or would not provide information, and others only offered rumors they said they heard.
At the time of his disappearance, Ziegler was described as 6 feet 2 to 6 feet 5 inches tall and 240 to 245 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. He has tattoos on his left arm, upper right arm and abdomen, according to information on the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System website.
Anthony W. Murphy
Murphy was reported missing in June 2019. Murphy, who was 36 at the time, was reported missing by his girlfriend, according to Erie police Detective Sgt. Craig Stoker. Murphy never showed up for work that day, and the girlfriend was unable to contact him, Stoker said. Murphy was reportedly supposed to stay with a co-worker, but the co-worker said he didn't see Murphy, according to Stoker. Murphy's mother lives in Kentucky, he said.
At the time of his disappearance, Murphy was described as 5 feet 9 inches tall and 135 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes.
Everett Crowley
Crowley's disappearance became the focus of police in March 2019. Other agencies were looking into the whereabouts of Crowley, 53, at the time, according to Erie police. Investigators said Crowley's mother, who lives out of state, reported when she was contacted that she hadn't seen Crowley in over a year. When police checked Crowley's last known address in Erie, others at the address told investigators they last saw Crowley a week or two earlier.
At the time of his disappearance, Crowley was described as 5 feet 8 inches tall and 135 pounds.
Dijone Redd
Redd was last seen in September 2023. Redd, then 30, was last seen on Sept. 6 with some friends in the area of West 17th and Liberty streets, according to police. His mother said Redd had visited her two days earlier, after she picked him up from the hospital. Police said they interviewed a number of people and searched social media sites but have found no information on Redd's possible whereabouts.
Redd is described as 6 feet 1 inch tall and 160 to 170 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. He has tattoos on his left and right forearms.
Contact Tim Hahn at thahn@timesnews.com. Follow him on X @ETNhahn.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie cold case investigator seeks to solve missing persons cases
