You might be forgiven for thinking that having to file a missing person’s report isn’t something that you’ll ever have to do – but given official stats showing that between 2015 and 2016, 135,382 people went missing in England and Wales, it may well be something you have to face in the future.
According to the Missing People charity, 79 per cent of those who do go missing will either be found or return on their own within 24 hours. And just two per cent will stay missing for over a week. Some 53 per cent of children go missing for eight hours or less, with adults likely to be missing for longer periods than younger people.
People go missing for a wide range of reasons and it’s often impossible to find one single contributing reason for why someone would disappear. They can go missing intentionally or not and it is important to respect the rights of adults if they do choose to do this.
But it’s worth noting that the majority of people who do go missing are vulnerable in one way or another, with research showing that up to 80 per cent of grown-ups who go missing do have mental health issues.
Bear in mind the character of the person who can’t be found – are they someone who does this regularly? Is it very out of character and not at all like them? You don’t want to raise the alarm unnecessarily but if it’s considered strange behaviour, it would be remiss of you not to do something. You’re better off regretting alerting the authorities than leaving it and wishing you’d done something when you had the chance.
Do you need to find a missing person in London? Get in touch with us today.
