To begin, it is important to acknowledge that individuals possess a right to be absent, or a right to ‘go missing’. Doing so is not inherently a criminal act. Regardless of the legal status of missing persons, they necessitate a great deal of attention from the police. Research on the issue has identified that a significant proportion involves repeated reports of a person’s disappearance, which account for about 65% of all incidents (Babuta & Sidebottom, 2020; Bezeczky & Wilkins, 2022; Galiano López et al., 2023). In fact, small portions of people who fall into the category of people repeatedly reported missing, so-called ‘chronic cases’ of missing persons (Ferguson & Picknell, 2022), can often be due to just a handful of individuals, with one study outlining that over half of all cases were related to just 15% of repeatedly missing individuals (Babuta & Sidebottom, 2020). Although there is no accepted definition for what constitutes a repeat, or chronic missing persons case (Ferguson & Picknell, 2022), research on the subject has indicated that a repeatedly missing individual, or chronic missing person, is someone reported missing two or more times in a one-year period (Sidebottom et al., 2019). This includes individuals who are reported missing on a high number of occasions, often more than 10 times (Sidebottom et al., 2019).
A concerning cause of repeat reports of a person’s disappearance is believed to be caused by a variety of issues related to unaddressed vulnerability (Sidebottom et al., 2019) and various forms of victimization. Examples of such vulnerability are wide and varied, but research has indicated that this includes adverse childhood experiences (Wager, 2015). Such experiences can often lead to unaddressed mental, physical and social vulnerabilities that can put a person’s life at risk (Keay and Kirby, 2018), such as drug and alcohol addiction and suicidal thoughts. The risk of harm in these cases is therefore considerable, with the danger of fatality being a pressing concern for authorities looking for people who are reported missing (Newiss & Greatbatch, 2020). This concern is not misplaced, as fatal outcomes occur in roughly 1 out of every 358 missing incidents (Whibley et al., 2023). A significant majority of these fatalities involve adults (98%), predominantly males (80%), and suicides are notably prevalent (Whibley et al., 2023). Often, such cases involve bodies of water, which present both hazards and opportunities for vulnerable missing persons. This is backed up by research that has evidenced that a sizeable proportion of fatal missing persons cases culminate in locating them deceased in rivers or canals, because of either suicide, or by accidentally falling into them because of intoxication (Newiss & Greatbatch, 2020), an issue that is prevalent in cases when someone goes missing during an evening out (Newiss and Greatbatch, 2020). As such, finding a missing person is often a race against time as studies have shown that in cases where the disappearance lasts over 48 hours there is a heightened risk of fatality (Newiss and Greatbatch, 2019).
In respect of causation of such fatal cases, suicide is among the most common causes of death, particularly in male fatalities (Whibley et al., 2023), often preceded by the leaving of a suicide note (Yong & Tzani-Pepelasis, 2020). The age demographic most likely to be associated with missing suicide cases tends to be older individuals, 30 years and upward (Woolnough et al., 2019). As a result, suicide accounts for as many as 4 out 5 of male fatalities, and 3 out of 4, female cases (Whibley et al., 2023). Understandably then, when a person goes missing, the people left behind often fear the worst (C. Taylor et al., 2019).
With respect to vulnerabilities that lead to a person going missing, several key factors have been identified in the research. Physical illnesses play a significant factor that contributes to the likelihood of going missing (Phoenix & Francis, 2023; Shalev, 2011). Likewise, mental illness also plays a key role (Phoenix and Francis, 2023). This is backed up by the sheer volume of cases that are reported from mental health institutes, which are among the most frequently reported locations, accounting for almost a quarter of all reported cases (Hayden & Shalev-Greene, 2018; Shalev Greene & Pakes, 2014). Mental illness also plays a key role in cases when people go missing from their family’ home, with studies indicating that depression is a key factor, especially in the young who ‘run away’ (Tucker et al., 2011). Despite the key role played by mental health in missing person cases, it has been argued that ‘the centrality of mental ill-health’, is not reflected in existing studies on the subject, calling for more research on this issue (C. Taylor et al., 2019).
Substance abuse, including drug and alcohol misuse, is also a major contributing factor (Bezeczky & Wilkins, 2022; Hutchings et al., 2019, Phoenix and Francis, 2022; Sidebottom et al., 2019). So much so, that exposure to substances, such as alcohol and drugs (J. Taylor et al., 2014), particularly heavier volumes, is a strong predictor of a person going missing (Tucker et al., 2011). As a result, drugs overdoses are frequent among drug-dependent missing person cases (Newiss & Greatbatch, 2020).
Furthermore, not only can it be a casual factor for going missing, but those who do disappear are disproportionately exposed to drug use and associated criminal activity (Shalev, 2011).
In other cases of missing persons, a variety of ‘push’ factors often force the person to flee their home. For instance, family conflict, such as verbal or physical aggression and domestic abuse, is a key predictor in a person repeatedly being reported to the police as a missing person case (Babuta and Sidebottom, 2020). Other relationship problems that cause friction or isolation are also a consistent theme that is common among missing people (Taylor et al., 2014). Young people often go missing in homes where there is a lack of parental support (Tucker et al., 2011) further highlighting the complex familial environment that shapes a young person’s decision to go missing (Bowden & Lambie, 2015).
In addition, a range of lifestyle problems have also been identified as playing a key part of missing persons cases. For example, financial strain on people who are unemployed or homeless is often a key characteristic of missing person cases (Kiepal et al., 2012).
For juveniles, issues at school that result in significant disengagement from education are a key predictor of missing episodes (Tucker et al., 2011). Unsurprisingly, abuse in the home is also a key ‘push’ factor that precedes people going missing. A history of abuse, neglect, violence within relationships, sexual victimization, abuse of authority and power (such as that in cases of controlling and coercive behavior), are all key forms of harm that force victims to have to leave, resulting in them being reported missing (Bowstead, 2015; Hutchings et al., 2019; J. Taylor et al., 2014).
Children often go missing to escape their environment, hence their overrepresentation among people repeatedly reported as missing. For example, living in residential care or the care system in general, are significant factors that increase the risk of going missing (Bezeczky & Wilkins, 2022; Bowden & Lambie, 2015; Bowstead, 2015; Hutchings et al., 2019; Shalev Greene & Pakes, 2014; Sidebottom et al., 2019; J. Taylor et al., 2014). This issue is so prevalent that similarly to mental health units, studies have identified that children’s care homes account for three-quarters (75.5%) of the top 10 locations that children are reported missing from (Hayden & Shalev-Greene, 2018). As a result, this had led to being in care being a key indicator of a person being repeatedly being reported as a missing person (Babuta and Sidebottom, 2018).
A significant reason for recurrent instances of children in care going missing can be attributed to the care system’s policies and procedures. This strain is also increased through inconsistent definitions of ‘missing’ (Shalev Greene et al., 2022). It is normal that the police define a missing person as ‘anyone whose whereabouts cannot be established will be considered as missing until located, and their well-being or otherwise confirmed’ (College of Policing, 2024). Whereas children’s care homes use different definitions that are much looser, and simply include a child who is not where they are supposed to be at a certain time, that is, not having returned home, even if they are aware of the child’s exact location. This is because care staff, unlike parents, are often restricted by rigorous policies around issues, such as curfews. As a result, a child’s failure to return on time frequently results in an immediate report of them being missing, as required by these policies, bypassing the preliminary steps a parent might undertake to find or retrieve their child. This situation can cause an inflated number of reported missing persons cases. Moreover, the apprehension and personal accountability felt by practitioners within partner agencies can add to this issue. As a result, agencies, especially children’s care homes, might hasten to declare a child missing due to worries about the repercussions of not reporting and the possibility of negative outcomes, and associated liability (Waring et al., 2023). As a result, although effective inter-agency collaboration is crucial for addressing missing children’s cases, the police often view the responsibility for missing children as predominantly theirs, which strains their resources. This is further compounded by a lack of understanding of roles and definition, and the aforementioned fear and anxiety, all contributing to increased reporting of missing children (Waring et al., 2023). This culminates in higher service demand for the police (Waring et al., 2023) that it is argued could be partly addressed by a better shared understanding of missing cases, clearer delineation of roles and responsibilities, and establishing direct contact points across agencies (Waring et al., 2023).
Being the victim of a crime in progress is also a reason why people may go missing. Exploitation, including suspected sexual exploitation and internal (in-country) sex trafficking, as well as violence and homicide, are all identified causes of missing persons cases (Bezeczky & Wilkins, 2022; Cockbain & Wortley, 2015; Hutchings et al., 2019; Whibley et al., 2023). The rising acknowledgement and identification of criminal exploitation is also a growing cause of people being reported missing, specifically exploitation forms like ‘county lines’ drug trafficking (Stone, 2018).
This is a form of drug trafficking that is used by organized crime groups to move drugs between urban and rural locations, often across county boundaries using exploited young people and children to do so to help avoid police detection (Stone, 2018). As a result, vulnerable children are often away from home for prolonged periods of time as they are exploited and forced to traffic drugs on long journeys, resulting in them being reported missing. Reassuringly, homicide is among the least probable causes for going missing, with some studies indicating that females face the same odds of dying because of an accident, as they do a homicide (Whibley et al., 2023). In contrast, murder is suspected as one of the main reasons behind many long-term missing persons cases (Newiss, 2005).
Gender and age also play a significant role in the dynamics of missing persons cases (Phoenix and Francis, 2022; Huey et al., 2020; Babuta and Sidebottom, 2018). For example, in general, women appear overrepresented among missing persons (Kiepal et al., 2012), whilst men are overrepresented among long-term missing cases, and those involving fatality (Newiss, 2005). Age plays a key role too (Phoenix and Francis, 2022) and as outlined earlier, is significantly correlated to repeatedly being reported as a missing person (Babuta and Sidebottom, 2018), with some suggesting children who are disadvantaged experience heightened vulnerability of going missing (Kiepal et al., 2012). Such nuances highlight the complexity of missing persons cases, and this has led to many researchers identifying the key role that environmental issues play (J. Taylor et al., 2014), outlining that a variety of considerations should be considered when assessing cases (Bowden & Lambie, 2015), with particular attention being paid to behavior that is out of character (Babuta and Sidebottom, 2018; and Phoenix and Francis, 2022).
