Although several common points and characteristics are mentioned in each category, there are always exceptions, and the planning of a proper investigation operation focuses on the most likely, while further analysis of the characteristics and behaviors that the missing persons develop, we can only examine with the simultaneous use of the information that accompany each unique incident of disappearance and which in itself constitutes a dynamic process.
In each of the following categories, specific selected basic characteristics are mentioned which are determined either by age, or by the mental-psychological state, or due to the conditions and the environment
Knowing where others have gone before and what they did when lost can assist you in determining the best course of action.
The following are the most frequently encountered categories of missing persons:
Children (1 to 3 years)
- They do not realize that they have been lost (removed from a familiar environment).
- They do not have a developed sense of orientation (they do not know where they are in relation to their familiar and everyday environment).
- They tend to wander aimlessly without a specific route in mind.
- If they get tired, they will look for the easiest and most accessible place for them to lie down and sleep (eg under a tree, in a natural hiding place such as a small cave, pilothouse of an apartment building, playground house, etc.)
Children (3 to 6 years)
- At these ages, children are capable of drifting away very quickly.
- They realize they are lost, they are not particularly afraid, especially in an urban environment, and they will generally try to get home or return to a place they know or think they know.
- Due to age, curiosity prevails and their attention will be drawn by animals, older children or something special they will want to explore.
- When they get tired, they will try to find a spot to rest.
- Many children of this age are either shy or have learned not to talk to strangers, so they may not respond to research team members who call them by name.
- Amber Alert is immediately activated for this category
Children (7 to 12 -16years)
- Orientation skills are fairly to highly developed and generally directed to familiar locations.
- Conscious escapes to avoid punishment, to gain the attention of others, to isolate themselves or to have been lured into this act by adults or older children are also common.
- Whether it is an intentional or unintentional disappearance, they often do not answer when called.
- Darkness, bad weather and a sense of danger make them receptive to help.
- The circumstances of disappearance often have to do with a significant change in their life or with other circumstances in their environment (eg moving, birth of a child, loss, divorce, school bullying, abuse, etc.).
- Significant differences are observed in the behavior of these children during the disappearance, as well as particularities in the circumstances of the disappearance, depending on the environment in which the child grows up and the environment in which he disappeared. (eg a child from the countryside who got lost in the city or a child who grew up in a metropolis and got lost in the countryside).
- Amber Alert is immediately activated for this category.
Elderly (over 60)
- They often suffer from senile dementia or Alzheimer’s disease.
- Their attention is distracted by something that impresses them and they are directed more towards areas related to their past, rather than the present.
- Several times they exceed their endurance limits, become exhausted and may lead to situations such as a cardiac arrest.
- They are often hard of hearing or deaf and have vision problems.
- Many follow medication and in case of disappearance many times they do not have with them the necessary medicines for their survival or they cannot take care of themselves.
- Cases of terminally ill patients are also common.
- For this category and depending on the age of the missing person, the circumstances of the disappearance and the assessment that the life or health of the missing person may be in danger, an Amber Alert or Missing Alert is immediately activated.
Hikers
- Generally, they stay on paths with a destination in mind.
- Orientation problems usually arise when the conditions on the path change or it becomes indiscernible.
- Often, in groups of hikers, individuals do not have the same qualifications and someone gets left behind, gets disoriented and eventually gets lost.
- They are very dependent on signs and paths.
- A large percentage of those who realize they are lost do not move more than 2 kilometers from the PLS – Point of Last Sight, with 60% of them moving downhill and 30% continuing during the night.
- We calculate an average walking speed of 3 ½ kilometers / hour.
