Many different types of people are reported missing every day.
It is difficult to count missing people precisely, because of the different situations in which people go missing. Care must be taken when relying on any figures.
WHAT IS THE DEFINITION OF ‘MISSING PEOPLE’?
If nobody knows where an individual has gone and finding them appears impossible. There is a general concern of danger associated with this situation. They will be considered missing until located and their well-being or otherwise established.
Malcolm Payne is Professor of Applied Community Studies, Manchester Metropolitan University. He has worked in probation, social services, and the national and local voluntary sector and in academic posts. He is currently doing research on child advocacy and missing persons, and is involved in management and teaching on the voluntary sector and community care.
Malcolm Payne (1995) took a different approach, and defined ‘going missing’ as:
“…a social situation in which a person is absent from their accustomed ne2rk of social and personal relationships to the extent that people within that ne2rk define the absence as interfering with the performance by that person of expected social responsibilities, leading to a situation in which members of the ne2rk feel obliged to search for the missing person and may institute official procedures to identify the person as missing”
There are so many reasons for people going missing that there could be more than one definition given. Although it is possible that a missing person might move along the continuum while they are missing, or that the people left behind might misrepresent or misunderstand the true situation of the missing person, this typology enables a theoretical distinction to be drawn between different types of missing people and incidents.
Typical terminology to describe the reasons for missing people
• ‘Runaways’ (missing people)
• ‘Throwaways’ (rejected missing people)
• ‘Push ways’ (people forced to go missing)
• ‘Fall ways’ (people who have lost contact)
• ‘Takeaways’ (people forced out of contact)
OVERALL FIGURES
Estimating an overall number of missing people in the UK is difficult for several reasons: partly because there is no national collation of official reports and partly because not all missing people are officially reported or labeled missing.
Geoff Newiss, a former Home Office senior researcher and a criminologist, was appointed Head of Policy and Research in May 2007, having previously worked for Missing People as a consultant. During this time, Geoff initiated the Missing People Research Programme.
Geoff has a wealth of experience of undertaking research in the field of missing people because of the work with the Home Office from 1997 to 2005 with sole responsibility for analyzing the policing of missing persons
In a 1999 study Newiss found, across 3 sampled police forces, that the average number of missing person reports filed in that year was 3.6 per 1000 people in the population. Calculated for a UK population (as at mid 2006) of 60,587,000, this gives an estimate of 218,113 missing person reports every year. The total number of missing person reports each year is likely to fall in the range of 210,000 to 230,000 in any one year.
27,570 missing person reports were made in the Greater London Metropolitan Police area alone in 1999/2000.
Missing People recorded nearly 22,000 enquiries on missing people in 2006-07. (Missing People Annual Review 2007, forthcoming)
Young people are more likely to be officially reported missing than adults. This is partly because they are more likely to live with parents, foster parents or in a children’s home who are likely to report them missing very quickly.
Parents & Abducted Children Together (PACT) have estimated that at least 100,000 children go missing every year, or “one every 5 minutes”. (PACT, 2005:) Several studies have found that young people, aged under 18, account for around 2 thirds of all police missing person reports. This would suggest that the number of people under 18 reported missing each year could be as high as 140,000 to 153,000.
Between the ages of 13 and 17 years, girls are more likely to be reported missing than boys. 71 % of 13-17 year olds reported missing to Missing People (1999-2000) were female.
At older ages, this pattern is reversed. Over the age of 24 years, men are much more likely to be reported missing than women. 73 % of people aged over 24 reported missing to Missing People (1999-2000) were male.
Tarling and Burrows’ 2004 study of Metropolitan Police missing person cases found that 99 % of cases were resolved within one year. Around 0.6 % of missing person cases are resolved when the missing person is found to have died.
The length of time, or duration, of being missing depends on the individual’s circumstances when they went missing. Most young people who run away do so for only a short period, but some people lose touch with family members and friends gradually, and they can be missing for a very long time. People also tend to report vulnerable missing people quickly.
In 2004 Tarling and Burrows found that more than 3 quarters of a random sample of 1,000 Metropolitan Police missing people’s reports were resolved within 48 hours. The same study found that 99 % of missing persons cases were resolved within one year.
HOW MANY CHILDREN GO MISSING?
Children are not allowed to go missing by choice, as children aged less than 16 years must live in the care of an adult or the state. However, many children aged less than 16 years are not in contact with some of their family members, and so may be considered missing by those family members. Also, many young people run away from home or care for brief periods, for a variety of reasons.
As children and young people usually live with family or legal gardians, they are more likely than adults to be reported missing soon after a last sighting. Because of this, people aged less than 18 years account for at least 2 thirds of police missing person reports. WHY DO THEY GO MISSING?
Children go missing for a variety of reasons. In research conducted about reports to the Missing People charity in 2003, 70 % of young people who had been reported missing had done so by choice. This includes those who stayed away from home, without permission, without intending to leave for good.
4 % had ‘drifted’ away, 10 % were unintentionally missing, and 8 % had been forced to leave (including parental abduction and being thrown out). Of those young people who were ‘unintentionally’ missing most had lost touch with family after family break up. “Loss of contact is common and there is evidence that around one half of non-custodial parents lose touch with their children within 2 years of separation. This loss of contact may be deliberate on the part of either the custodial or non-custodial parent, and may not be the child’s choice.
Since 2002, the police have recorded between 600 and 1,000 child abductions (including attempted abductions) every year (Home Office 2002/03 to 2006/07). In 2004 a Home Office study examined the cases of 798 police reports of child abduction in England and Wales. These reported abductions included attempted abductions and parental abductions. This research found that just over half were attempted child abductions.
Of all recorded abductions and attempted abductions, a very small proportion were instances where a child was actually abducted by a stranger. Importantly, children who are abducted will not necessarily be considered missing, or reported as missing.
A 2004 Home Office study found that, of the 798 police reports of child abduction and attempted child abduction in England and Wales that year:
• 56 % or all reports involved a stranger
• 47 % cent of all reports were ‘attempted child abductions by a stranger’
• 9 % cent of all reports were successful child abductions by a stranger
A 2004 Home Office study found that, of the 798 police reports of child abduction and attempted child abduction in England and Wales that year, 23 % involved abduction by a parent. Not all of these children will be the subject of a missing person report.
A ‘runaway’ is a child/young person, who is absent for one or more nights from the family home or placement without permission or who has been forced to leave by their parents or guardians. Or, a child/young person who is absent from their home or placement without permission for any length of time where their age and experience, background and ability make this a concern. Runaways are those children who have intentionally or knowingly stayed away from home without permission.
An estimated 100,000 children aged less than 16 years run away from home or care overnight each year in the UK.
The peak ages of running away are between 13 and 15 years old. Recent research that asked a school-based sample of young people whether they had ever run away found that 11 % of young people had stayed away from home overnight, without permission, on at least one occasion before their 6teenth birthday.
In 2005 a Home Office study, the Offending, Crime and Justice Survey, asked around 2000 young people, aged under 18, whether they had ‘run away in the last year’. Just over 5 % of this cohort reported that they had run away in the last year.
An Edinburgh based study, The Edinburgh Study of Youth Transitions and Crime, has followed a cohort of around 4000 young people through their teens. At age 15, 22 % reported having ‘stayed out overnight’ in the last year, and just over 5 % said they had ‘run away’ in the last year.
Slightly earlier information is available from 2 Home Office commissioned household studies of young people, analyzed recently by PACT. In both surveys 6 % of young respondents reported running away or staying out overnight.
Relatively few studies have asked in depth question of young runaways about why they go missing.
The studies found that “running away was most often rooted in conflict with a parent, stepparent or other family member” Other reasons for going missing included seeking adventure or excitement, and trying to escape an accumulation of stress and anxiety. The importance of peer influence was also emphasized, particularly for young girls.
Running away was also found by this study to be a spontaneous event, rather than something that young people planned.
51 % of overnight runaways, from a sample of school children, had stayed with friends, 35 % had stayed with relatives, and 16 % had slept rough.
A school based study of young people found that, while running away, 9% of young runaways had stolen something, 3% had begged for money, and 4% had ‘done other things’ to survive. 8% of the young people who ran away overnight had been harmed.
A study of young people who had run away found that one in 8 runaways (12.5 %) reported having been physically hurt and one in 9 (around 11 %) reported being sexually abused while running away. (Biehal et al, 2003: 32).
Most young people who run away do not intend to leave for good, but return to the place they left. A school based study of young people found that, of those who had run away overnight, 52 % stayed away for 1 night, 27 % stayed away for 2 to 6 nights, 11 % stayed away for 1 to 4 weeks, and 10 % stayed away for more than 4 weeks.
When the Children’s Rights Director for England conduced some research with young people who had run away from care, he found that there are number of reasons why young people run away.
• Not being treated as an individual
• Not being allowed to do things they want
• Separated from people they want to see
• They need time alone
• Frustrated by rules and environment
• Punishments seen as unfair
• Physical restraint
• To stay with friends or family
• Not happy with placement
• Boredom
• Not getting on with care staff
• Not treated properly/fairly
• Bullying
• To have fun
This research identified 3 types of running away from care:
• Running to have fun
• Running to somewhere they want to go (for example, to see their family)
• Running from a placement they don’t like
Currently there is no accurate way of measuring the number of missing adults in the UK. Adults have the right to leave their home and job if they wish, and to break off contact with family and friends, so defining adults as missing is difficult.
Estimates of the numbers of missing adults rely on reports from the families and friends who cannot find the missing person. Many missing adults are not reported to the police, particularly if they have ‘drifted’ out of contact, rather than disappearing overnight, so relying on police missing person reports will lead to under-estimation of the number of missing adults.
Adults that go missing include those who have left after a relationship breakdown, or young adults who have left the family home because of conflict.
19 % of adults, in a 2003 study of cases from Missing People’s database, had unintentionally lost contact with family and friends, and had ‘drifted’ out of touch over time, rather than making a conscious effort to leave. 64 % had left deliberately, 16 % had left ‘unintentionally’, and 1 % had been forced to leave.
More than half of the 16 % ‘unintentionally’ missing had experienced dementia or other mental health problems.
In the 2003 study of Missing People cases, the main reasons for adults going missing were
• Relationship breakdown (30 % of adults)
• Conflicts over autonomy (especially for young adults)
• Escape (to escape a crisis or stress)
• Mental health problems, such as depression (around 11 % of adults)
Other reasons included
• - Alcohol misuse
• - Financial worries
• - Job loss
• - Undisclosed childhood abuse
• - Violence
• - Drifting (e.g. moving house)
• - Transient lifestyles
While many missing adults have left to start a new life elsewhere, 28 % of missing adults in a study of Missing People cases had slept rough while missing.
In a large scale study of cases of missing adults recorded by Missing People, “almost 2 thirds had also encountered difficulties. Over one third (36 %) of adults had felt themselves to be in danger at some point while they were missing”. Being homeless was associated with increased risk.
When adults go missing intentionally – a deliberate choice – return is less likely. Adults who had left because of a relationship breakdown rarely returned, and 2 thirds of them were missing for more than 2 years. Conversely, when going missing is unintentional, return is more likely.
Although not all missing people return, a substantial proportion resume contact with the people they left behind. Although many missing people, when located, get back in touch with friends and family, a substantial proportion choose not to do so.
Some missing people are found by police or other agencies only after they have died. In some cases this is because they have been out of touch for a long time and have died of natural causes before contact was re-established. In other cases this is because the missing person has become a victim of homicide, or has committed suicide, and was reported missing after death but before their body was discovered.
In 2006, just 0.6 % of 32,705 cancelled missing person reports from the Metropolitan Police Missing Persons Bureau was the missing person found dead.
Between 2000 and 2006 an average of 10% of all missing person cases dealt with by Missing People resulted in a fatal outcome (typically between 120 and 140 a year).
A study of police cases in 2003 estimated that just 1 in 7,400 missing people are the victims of homicide. The likelihood of being found dead varies across sex and age group. The age group of missing people most likely to have been the victim of homicide is those aged 19-24 years, closely followed by those aged 25 to 29 years. Girls and women across all age groups also face “a higher risk than males of being the victim of homicide when reported missing”
Tarling and Burrows’ 2004 study of Metropolitan Police missing person cases found that 99 % of cases were resolved within one year. Some people, of course, are missing for very much longer than one year, but a year represents a measure of a long term missing incident.
Of the one % of police missing persons cases that Tarling and Burrows (2004) found are not resolved after one year, most will be missing people who have ‘drifted’ away, but a proportion will be people whose disappearance was sudden and out of character. Research is underway, conducted by Missing People, to explore further the characteristics of long term missing people, paying particular attention to the cases of long term missing children.
It is difficult to collect information about missing people, because there is no one source of information that collects data about all missing people in the UK. Although police forces record all missing persons reported to them, not all missing persons are reported at all. The information in this report comes from a variety of sources including the police, the government, charities, Missing People’s own database, and independent research.
The Police National Missing Persons Bureau (PNMPB) collects information about missing persons cases from police forces around the country. Although not all police forces submit all of their data, this is a useful resource for collecting national data.
However, the PNMPB only collects information about missing people who have been missing for longer than 14 days.
This means that the large majority of cases that are resolved within this time are not included on PNMPB data.
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