tag:theconversation.com,2011:/uk/topics/missing-people-5433/articlesMissing people – The Conversation2021-11-25T19:08:10Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1724872021-11-25T19:08:10Z2021-11-25T19:08:10ZRolling media coverage of missing persons cases can add to the trauma for all families left behind<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/433816/original/file-20211125-22-qbd305.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C5%2C1825%2C1163&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The media has been closely following every twist and turn in the case of missing boy William Tyrrell, including recent live coverage of police operations seen here in NSW.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://photos.aap.com.au/search/William%20tyrrell">Mick Tsikas/AAP Image</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The public has been privy to live footage of police operations. New South Wales police, dressed in overalls, scoured dense bushland to retrieve a small piece of fabric. Reports <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-11-21/another-piece-of-fabric-found-william-tyrrell-search-day-seven/100633540">suggested</a> the yet-to-be-analysed fabric may be linked to the case of missing boy William Tyrrell.</p>
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<p>William’s case – along with the location of Cleo Smith in Western Australia and recent developments in the case of missing campers Russell Hill and Carol Clay in Victoria – have been prominent news stories.</p>
<p>Media interest can invite the public into the investigative process. But rolling media coverage can have an immediate and long-lasting effect on the families left behind. That’s not only the families of that particular case, but the families of other missing people, whose case isn’t in the news.</p>
<p>Non-stop coverage can invade their privacy, raise and dash their hopes, and prolong their trauma.</p>
<h2>More people go missing than ever make ‘news’</h2>
<p>In 2020, Australia’s <a href="https://www.missingpersons.gov.au">National Missing Persons Coordination Centre</a> had more than <a href="https://www.missingpersons.gov.au/about">51,000 reports</a> about the safety and well-being of a missing person. Many of those cases are resolved within one month. </p>
<p>Yet more than <a href="https://www.missingpersons.gov.au/about">2,600 cases</a> are long term – when a person is missing for longer than three months.</p>
<p>It’s rare for the families of people who are missing to have had any contact with the media before. So it’s difficult for families to navigate and manage media interest.</p>
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<p>Bruce Morcombe’s son Daniel was 13 when <a href="https://danielmorcombe.com.au/daniels-legacy/">he was abducted</a> from the Sunshine Coast in December 2003. His remains were found in 2011.</p>
<p>Bruce <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/lifematters/minimising-distress-for-families-of-missing-children/13635622">told the ABC</a> how he managed the media interest. He said the disappearance, homicide and the criminal investigation created a groundswell of empathy. </p>
<p>However, he said when the momentum slowed and it was looking like the case would become “cold”, the family and their supporters created media opportunities – to offer a new hook, a new angle – to continue community engagement.</p>
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<p>Families of missing people believe “someone, somewhere must know something”. Media offers the greatest capacity to reach that “someone”.</p>
<p>However, media attention is not guaranteed and is not an <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/348632071_Lost_from_the_conversation_Missing_people_and_the_role_of_Police_media_in_shaping_community_awareness">even playing field</a>. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/nov/06/cleo-smith-search-ends-in-joy-but-what-of-australias-other-missing-children">Attention only falls</a>, and priority given, to cases assessed as vulnerable. Cases the media deems newsworthy or those that reach high engagement (through liking, commenting and sharing on social media) also get attention.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/first-nations-kids-make-up-about-20-of-missing-children-but-get-a-fraction-of-the-media-coverage-171666">First Nations kids make up about 20% of missing children, but get a fraction of the media coverage</a>
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<h2>How does this rolling media coverage affect families?</h2>
<p>When the media provides rolling coverage of every tiny development in a missing persons case, it can raise hope for some families watching on. But for others, it can have the opposite effect.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/280876972_'I_still_hope_but_what_I_hope_for_now_has_changed'_A_narrative_inquiry_study_of_hope_and_ambiguous_loss_when_someone_is_missing">2015 study of Australian families</a> I conducted as part of my PhD found increased hope also creates a “hope hangover”. Families told me this is where anticipation peaks but they need recovery time to manage the emotional assault of a possible resolution. </p>
<p>Families of missing people also told me they have to remain resilient as other cases are solved, and the uncertainty of how long the investigation of their own loved one will take. In other words, media reporting of outcomes of one case can compound the trauma experienced by families of other missing people, whose case has not yet been resolved.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/when-missing-children-return-how-can-we-avoid-adding-to-cleo-smiths-trauma-171200">When missing children return: how can we avoid adding to Cleo Smith's trauma?</a>
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<h2>Then there’s the invasion of privacy</h2>
<p>Privacy for these families is <a href="https://theconversation.com/missing-and-found-understanding-the-privacy-needs-of-missing-people-13786">also an issue</a>.</p>
<p>Loren O’Keeffe, founder and chief executive officer of <a href="https://mpan.com.au">Missing Persons Advocacy Network</a>, was buoyed by community interest to help the search over the five years her brother Dan was missing.</p>
<p>When he was found, in traumatic circumstances, despite asking for privacy, she noticed the community felt a sense of ownership over Dan and the family’s story. Earlier this week, when Loren reflected about the location of her brother, she told me:</p>
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<p>[…] journalists incessantly ringing the doorbell, flooding inboxes demanding interviews, seeing awful commentary over social media – completely overwhelmed us when we needed space and silence to process our reality. It’s an unconscionable notion; desperate families that get media and public support for “search” are then obliged to share such raw grief and delicate detail at the debilitating time of “found”.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/missing-and-found-understanding-the-privacy-needs-of-missing-people-13786">Missing and found: understanding the privacy needs of missing people</a>
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<h2>Specific media quidelines would help</h2>
<p>The reasons people go missing can be diverse and complex. These can be due to a crime, complex mental illness, suicide or misadventure. This means a number of different media guidelines or codes of practice could potentially come into play to shape media coverage. </p>
<p>There are no Australian media guidelines specifically about reporting missing persons cases. They are needed.</p>
<p>We may be able to learn from the success of <a href="https://mindframe.org.au">Mindframe</a>, a national program that provides evidence-based recommendations for media reporting and public communication about suicide and mental illness, among other issues. </p>
<p>The program has been developed and refined over two decades, providing a strong platform for collaboration between the media and people involved in mental health and suicide prevention, including those with lived experience of these issues. </p>
<p>The guidelines do not restrict media reporting of the issues, but provide an opportunity for media and those working with the media to reflect on a number of issues. These include the types of content and messaging that may reduce risk of harm and distress, reduce stigma, and increase people’s willingness to seek help and offer help to others.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/cleo-smith-has-been-gone-almost-a-week-why-missing-children-cases-grip-the-nation-170363">Cleo Smith has been gone almost a week. Why missing children cases grip the nation</a>
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<p>Jaelea Skehan, director of <a href="https://everymind.org.au">Everymind</a> (the organisation behind the <a href="https://everymind.org.au/programs/mindframe">Mindframe</a> guidelines) told me that with media guidelines specific to missing persons, newsworthy coverage would still take place, but would also consider the potential impacts on those directly involved or impacted by similar experiences. </p>
<p>Remember, the stories of the investigations of missing persons cases are not the full story of the life of the person who is lost or the families left behind. </p>
<p>As the brother of a young woman missing for more than 30 years told me as <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/280876972_'I_still_hope_but_what_I_hope_for_now_has_changed'_A_narrative_inquiry_study_of_hope_and_ambiguous_loss_when_someone_is_missing">part of my research</a>:</p>
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<p>Hope can get buried deep below, we [the families of missing people] are like icebergs. We don’t have rose coloured spectacles on, it’s like they have been ripped off. We see the world as it is. There is a lot that others don’t see. </p>
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<p>The community, when watching on, needs to remember that.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/172487/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sarah Wayland received funding from the Australian Postgraduate Awards (APA) founded by the Australian Federal Government to complete a study exploring families of missing people 2013-2015</span></em></p>Non-stop media coverage can invade their privacy, raise and dash their hopes, and prolong their trauma.Sarah Wayland, Senior Lecturer Social Work, University of New EnglandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1712002021-11-04T06:56:37Z2021-11-04T06:56:37ZWhen missing children return: how can we avoid adding to Cleo Smith’s trauma?<p>Four-year-old Cleo Smith was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/nov/03/cleo-smith-found-first-pictures-of-smiling-girl-as-australian-police-detail-moment-of-rescue">found by Western Australian police earlier this week</a>, 18 days after going missing from a remote campsite.</p>
<p>Being taken and removed from one’s family is a significantly traumatic event for any child. It disrupts their entire world.</p>
<p>Children are <a href="https://acamh.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2011.02399.x">dependent on their families and attachment figures</a> for their sense of security and support. Sudden loss of these important relationships can result in fear, a sense of abandonment and confusion. Children left alone can become withdrawn and depressed and have little understanding of why this has happened to them.</p>
<p>There can be long-term effects, such as memories of the fearful experience, sleep disruption and anxiety. Some children will have difficultly rebuilding their sense of security and trust. </p>
<p>As a child psychiatrist who’s researched trauma, I’m interested in how we can ensure such children recover.</p>
<p>Family members, the media and the public also need to avoid certain actions or behaviours that could re-traumatise the child.</p>
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<h2>How can the child recover?</h2>
<p>The first priority after finding the child is to immediately re-establish a sense of safety and stability, and to reunite them with their family.</p>
<p>The most important thing is to avoid intrusive, <a href="https://bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1348/135532506X156620">probing questioning</a> straight away as this can be frightening and distressing. It’s a normal response for the child to try and not think about what they’ve just been through.</p>
<p>They will take their own time before they’re able to share details of their experiences, and will need considerable support and care to do this.</p>
<p>Intrusive questioning may re-traumatise the child. For survivors of trauma, being asked to focus on their memories and experiences of fear can be distressing and bring back the terror of the experience, particularly if they’re not ready to think about the events.</p>
<p>Police forces have skilled interviewers who understand and avoid this when recovering a child, and perform the interviews gradually.</p>
<p>There are open questions about any other sort of trauma Cleo may have experienced, but for now we don’t have any information on this. We might never know all the details and we need to respect the family’s right to privacy.</p>
<p>Some children might benefit from counselling, particularly if they have severe anxiety symptoms or have been held for a long time.</p>
<p>Children held for a long time often become dependent on their captor for survival, as they <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01926180902754711?journalCode=uaft20">adapt to their situation and attempt to survive</a>. It’s a very strange and traumatising position for the child to be in and may take a long time to recover from.</p>
<p>Over time, it’s important for attachment figures such as parents and carers to allow children to express fears in a gentle way.</p>
<p>Children may have “disguised anxieties”. They may develop fear about some other thing or event, for example storms or dogs, because they’re <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0829573512468845">expressing anxiety about the traumatic event in a disguised way</a>.</p>
<h2>Adults should listen, not probe</h2>
<p>Caregivers need to be <a href="https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubpdfs/child-trauma.pdf">guided by the child’s willingness to disclose</a>, and when.</p>
<p>The response to trauma varies considerably. Some children tell parents or carers a lot about the experience at first. Others may disclose small details little by little over time, while some may not speak about details for months or years.</p>
<p>Parents or carers need to let the child speak at their own pace and be guided by the child’s level of anxiety. The aim is to give the child a safe space to speak to trusted people who can support them.</p>
<p>When they do start talking about their experience, adults must listen carefully and validate their feelings. Adults should reassure the child that he or she is safe now. It’s not a good idea to probe.</p>
<p>Believing what the child says is crucial.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/its-real-to-them-so-adults-should-listen-what-children-want-you-to-know-to-help-them-feel-safe-113834">'It's real to them, so adults should listen': what children want you to know to help them feel safe</a>
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<h2>Let’s not get carried away with speculation</h2>
<p>We don’t know what the long-term consequences for Cleo will be. This will depend on what she’s been exposed to, which we don’t know yet. And we don’t always get a sense of closure – this isn’t as important as working on the best way to support her recovery.</p>
<p>The media should avoid premature comment and speculation on what might have occurred. The media currently have no idea what kind of person the suspect is and shouldn’t speculate on his behaviours and motives.</p>
<p>It’s also not helpful for the media to focus on extreme ideas about risk to children at the hands of predatory offenders.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/missing-and-found-understanding-the-privacy-needs-of-missing-people-13786">Missing and found: understanding the privacy needs of missing people</a>
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<p>As the public, we shouldn’t speculate about the circumstances either or prejudge those involved. Police are methodical and thorough in their work and will need time to piece together the story of what may have happened.</p>
<p>The local community, and many members of the public, are likely to be anxious and fearful. A missing child strikes at the core of our desire to care for children. This may have negative impacts on community trust and relationships. </p>
<p>If this was random act, there’s the potential for ongoing fear. And it’s potentially more scary than the stereotypes we think of, such as a planned attack by a ring of perpetrators. A random attack is harder to make sense of, terrifying and unsettling.</p>
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<h2>Parents need support, too</h2>
<p>Cleo’s parents, and any parents in a similar situation, have been through a horrendous ordeal.</p>
<p>They have the vital role of helping a child feel safe again, so they also need support to do this.</p>
<p>All parents may feel increased anxiety about child safety in the face of this event. Children may also hear about Cleo’s experience and worry this could happen to them. Fear is contagious when such a traumatic event impacts a community.</p>
<p>If parents are worried about their child showing trauma or anxiety symptoms, they should speak to GP who can refer to a psychologist or psychiatrist if more support is needed.</p>
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<p><em>If this article has raised issues for you, or if you’re concerned about someone you know, call Lifeline on 13 11 14.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/171200/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Louise Newman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The most important thing to avoid is intrusive, probing questioning straight away. The media and the public should also refrain from speculative, premature comment.Louise Newman, Professorial Fellow in Psychiatry, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1529262021-01-20T16:58:44Z2021-01-20T16:58:44ZLockdown 3: stricter rules could lead to more vulnerable people going missing<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/378555/original/file-20210113-19-a9nghw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=25%2C0%2C3455%2C3832&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/28th-january-2019-dublin-ireland-missing-1344514376">Derick Hudson/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In non-pandemic times, a person <a href="https://www.york.ac.uk/inst/spru/research/pdf/lostFromView.pdf">goes missing</a> every 90 seconds in the UK, either intentionally, accidentally or because they are forced to. While many missing people are found quickly or return voluntarily, some do come to <a href="http://missingpersons.police.uk/en-gb/resources/downloads/download/94">emotional, physical and sexual harm, including self-harm</a>. </p>
<p>It is crucial that we try to understand the impact that current lockdowns across the UK will have on the rates and types of people who go missing to try to prevent trauma, injury and death.</p>
<p><a href="https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/3107241/">Figures</a> from the first UK lockdown suggest a decrease in missing people reports to the police. In a <a href="https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/3107241/">report</a> (which is presently under peer review for an academic journal), we compare missing person reports in the first UK lockdown with the same time period in 2019 and predict there will be an increase in particular groups of people who go missing in the current lockdown.</p>
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<img alt="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/asian-woman-sitting-on-wood-floor-1459602854" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/378569/original/file-20210113-13-1mzwom5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/378569/original/file-20210113-13-1mzwom5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378569/original/file-20210113-13-1mzwom5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378569/original/file-20210113-13-1mzwom5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378569/original/file-20210113-13-1mzwom5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378569/original/file-20210113-13-1mzwom5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378569/original/file-20210113-13-1mzwom5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Findings indicate that people are going missing as a result of crises and stress.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/asian-woman-sitting-on-wood-floor-1459602854">RATTA LAPNAN/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>Instructions to stay at home and socially distance will have inevitably had an impact on <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7431844">well-being</a>, leaving many feeling <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7513993/">lonely</a> and <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpsy/article/PIIS2215-0366(20)30171-1/fulltext">fearful</a>. Some people will find it difficult to cope, especially in light of stressful life events such as losing a loved one to COVID-19 or <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/business/businessservices/bulletins/coronavirusandtheeconomicimpactsontheuk/19november2020">financial hardship</a>. </p>
<p>Therefore, we expect more people to go missing as a response to mental health issues, in order to have time to <a href="http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/81362/1/81362.pdf">think or escape</a>. This may be exacerbated by normally available resources becoming overburdened and difficult to access.</p>
<p>Based on recent research from April 2020, in response to the first lockdown, we anticipate an increase in <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpsy/article/PIIS2215-0366(20)30171-1/fulltext">suicide rates</a> this lockdown. Some people may also go missing in order to <a href="https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/2/2/e000607">take their own life</a>.</p>
<p>Studies have shown that being locked down with our households as well as the absence of face-to-face contact with professionals may expose more people to <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jocn.15296">family conflict and domestic violence</a>, especially <a href="https://learning.nspcc.org.uk/media/2246/isolated-and-struggling-social-isolation-risk-child-maltreatment-lockdown-and-beyond.pdf">children</a>. Victims of such abuse may need to escape in order to flee such adverse circumstances. </p>
<p>It’s likely too that there will be a rise in children going missing from residential care so as to be locked down in familiar surroundings <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/924352/COVID-briefing-childrens-homes-Sept-2020.pdf">with family and friends</a>, or perhaps because they are <a href="http://www.parliament.uk/commons-library%20%7C%20intranet.parliament.uk/commons-library">being drawn away by exploiters</a>.</p>
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<img alt="Police in uniforms and high vis jackets with " src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/378556/original/file-20210113-13-nx9e1k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/378556/original/file-20210113-13-nx9e1k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378556/original/file-20210113-13-nx9e1k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378556/original/file-20210113-13-nx9e1k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378556/original/file-20210113-13-nx9e1k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378556/original/file-20210113-13-nx9e1k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378556/original/file-20210113-13-nx9e1k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The public may be reluctant to report their loved ones missing through fear of fines or criminalisation.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/police-officers-on-duty-131453660">Said Marroun/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>An increase in particularly vulnerable people going missing will have an inevitable impact on policing and search-and-rescue teams. If greater numbers of those classed as being at high risk of coming to harm go missing, it could lead to an increase in the <a href="https://www.app.college.police.uk/app-content/major-investigation-and-public-protection/missing-persons/#risk-assessment-and-response">demand on resources</a>. This will be compounded by existing difficulties in relying on the public or friends and family to look out for or search for a missing person due to restrictions on movement.</p>
<h2>Will rates drop again?</h2>
<p>Based on directives to stay at home or “triggers” to going missing (<a href="http://missingpersons.police.uk/en-gb/resources/downloads/download/94">such as being bullied at school</a>) not being present, we anticipate that police reports will be lower compared with this time last year. Despite the likelihood of certain groups being more vulnerable to going missing, the police data may not give us the whole picture. The public may be reluctant to report their loved ones missing through fear of fines or criminalisation for breaking lockdown rules</p>
<h2>Clear messaging</h2>
<p>With increased coverage of the enforcement of stricter Covid-19 lockdown rules, it is crucial that the police and government clarify whether any sanctions will apply to those who are reported missing. </p>
<p>Messaging in this lockdown is harder than before – police statements reported in the media indicate that few “reasonable excuses” for lockdown breaches <a href="https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/police-issue-more-lockdown-fines-23269273">will be accepted</a>.</p>
<p>Speaking to Sky News on January 10, the UK health secretary, Matt Hancock, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNAsHVb1NyQ">explicitly stated</a> that “every flexibility could be fatal” indicating that exceptions and discretion would be very limited and that fines would be applied when possible. Indeed, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-55719525">media coverage of sanctions for breaking restrictions</a> is widespread.</p>
<p>If people are going missing as a result of crises and stress it is imperative that messaging be clarified as to what is and is not a “reasonable excuse” during the third lockdown – and beyond.</p>
<p>It is clear that those at risk of going missing need the support of those around them (albeit socially distanced) as well as from appropriate services. There have been considerable efforts to support and <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/22-million-emergency-coronavirus-funding-for-more-than-540-sexual-violence-and-domestic-abuse-charities">increase funding to agencies</a> in order to connect with at-risk individuals <a href="https://www.england.nhs.uk/mental-health/case-studies/mental-health-covid-19-children-and-young-people-case-studies/">remotely</a>. But there may be less infrastructure in place to identify those people not already “in the system” who become at risk during or as a result of the pandemic.</p>
<p>The charity Missing People has <a href="https://www.missingpeople.org.uk/winter-campaign-and-mental-health-guides">warned</a> that the pandemic will, over time, mean that more people will go missing. It also suggests that disadvantaged communities, minority groups, and already vulnerable people will more severely affected. We echo their call for greater access to support for those at risk of going missing, as well as their family and friends – and for those who return.</p>
<p><em>If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, please visit the websites for <a href="https://www.missingpeople.org.uk/">Missing People</a> or <a href="https://www.samaritans.org/">the Samaritans</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/152926/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In the face of stricter rules, the police and government need to clarify messaging around sanctionsFreya O'Brien, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, University of LiverpoolCraig Collie, Senior Lecturer in Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of PortsmouthSusan Giles, Lecturer, Forensic and Investigative Psychology, University of LiverpoolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/675782016-11-08T12:57:35Z2016-11-08T12:57:35ZWhat it really feels like when a loved one goes missing<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/145032/original/image-20161108-16724-3g0em5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption"></span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-188509169/stock-photo-young-woman-wearing-an-elegant-dress-is-looking-out-the-window.html?src=c4LtcAydZqxySN5Wl3DHtQ-5-81">Lolostock/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Each year, more than 250,000 missing person reports are made to the police in the UK alone. The loss can have a profound emotional effect on the families left behind, but their experiences are relatively little understood. </p>
<p>Alongside colleagues from the charity <a href="https://www.missingpeople.org.uk/">Missing People</a>, I’ve been exploring <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Missing-Persons-Karen-Shalev-Greene/dp/140946802X">this issue</a> in more depth and have found that the impact is not only emotional but financial and practical. </p>
<p>The majority of missing people return fairly quickly, but around 1% don’t. Their cases remain open for a year of more – and some for much longer. In the meantime, their friends and relatives must live with the uncertainty and hope of finding what happended to their loved ones, sometimes for many years.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Missing-Persons-Karen-Shalev-Greene/dp/140946802X">In interviews</a> with 12 relatives of missing people, they described going through different stages of guilt, regret and anger. For example, Sandra Flintoft, mother of Craig, who went missing in February 2003 said: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>When Craig first went missing I was so worried and sad. Where had I gone so wrong, what had I done to let him down so much … what more could or should I have to help him sort himself out? … after the first year my feelings changed. I felt sorry for myself … I was distraught with worry … I was angry with him. I wondered why he did not care that I was so unhappy.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The emotional impact is significant. The term <a>“living in limbo”</a> is often used to describe how families can’t move on while a loved one is missing. They often fluctuate between hope and hopelessness. </p>
<p>For example, Valerie Nettles, whose son Damien has been missing since November 1996, describes her sorrow as “the beast within”:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>It began to be, in my head, possible that he was dead; though I found it odd that a mother wouldn’t know by instinct if her son was dead … I tried to be calm and philosophical and tell myself this is just a mistake … this is not happening and stop panicking, there is a logical explanation and he will come waltzing through the door. But all the time deep down I knew, something was terribly wrong and it was terrifying.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In cases where a person is missing for a prolonged period, this process is described as <a href="http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-94-017-9670-5_10#page-1">ambiguous loss</a>. There is no resolution or closure to enable a person to move on. This is further intensified by the person <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/07481187.2015.1068245">holding on to hope</a> of a happy reunion with their loved one or even simply learning what had happened and why the person went missing in the first place.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/145036/original/image-20161108-16724-19tghq0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/145036/original/image-20161108-16724-19tghq0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=370&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/145036/original/image-20161108-16724-19tghq0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=370&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/145036/original/image-20161108-16724-19tghq0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=370&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/145036/original/image-20161108-16724-19tghq0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=465&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/145036/original/image-20161108-16724-19tghq0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=465&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/145036/original/image-20161108-16724-19tghq0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=465&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Life in limbo.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Relatives also spoke about differing views or thinking within a family as to whether the missing person is alive or dead. That can also be an additional cause of distress and conflict and put immense pressure on a relationship, particularly if it is perceived that a family member could have “contributed to” someone going missing. </p>
<p>Families may also face legal and financial problems following a disappearance. They often need to manage and protect the missing person’s affairs while they are away, which can be hugely distressing, as they can feel duty bound to protect the life they hope their missing loved one will return to.</p>
<h2>The return</h2>
<p>If a missing person does turn up – be it alive or dead – their families then encounter a whole new range of emotions. It is rarely as straightforward as joy in a reunion. </p>
<p>As well as relief that the person has been found, many families experience frustration. They often have questions that have not been answered and there may be fear that the person will disappear again. One interviewee said it could be like having a stranger in your house and reported feeling unsure of whether it was OK to talk about what had happened.</p>
<p>Other families experience acute rejection, worry and frustration if the person has chosen not to get back in touch with them. That’s especially true when a police investigation has been closed without their family member returning.</p>
<p>Even successful reconnection may present significant challenges. There is relatively little support for families and missing people who have returned. Young missing people may receive a referral to local social services, which may result in ongoing support for them and their family, but when missing adults return, there is no guarantee of support after the police have played their part. </p>
<p>Given the complexity of the needs of families of people who go missing, more should be done to support them. Support services could be provided for families following a disappearance, explaining the legal and financial issues they may encounter. While such support won’t make the pain of losing a loved one any easier, it might help lessen the unexpected burdens that come with this experience.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/67578/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Karen Shalev Greene works for University of Portsmouth. She receives funding from EC Commision, University of Portsmouth. </span></em></p>It’s easy to imagine the sadness that comes with a loved one’s disappearance, but there’s anger too – and admin.Karen Shalev Greene, Director of Centre for the Study of Missing Persons, University of PortsmouthLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/627082016-08-04T11:27:53Z2016-08-04T11:27:53ZThe forgotten half-widows of Kashmir’s armed conflict<p>Among the devastating effects of war is one that is often witnessed yet hard to truly quantify: hundreds of thousands of people go missing every year, never to be seen again by their loved ones. Family and friends are left in limbo, while wives live in poverty and despair as “half-widows”, not knowing whether their <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia/2013/09/dilemma-kashmir-half-widows-201392715575877378.html">husbands are dead or alive</a>.</p>
<p>Disappearances like these have long been a feature of the conflict in Kashmir. There is often no record of arrests, and some NGOs have alleged that <a href="https://www.ecoi.net/file_upload/1930_1460634587_g1603063.pdf">torture</a> is <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-12014734">used as a state tool</a>.</p>
<p>In 1947, the British Indian Empire was <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/1762146.stm">divided into the sovereign states</a> of Pakistan and India. Due to its <a href="https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Jammu+%26+Kashmir/@31.2404951,74.9847532,5.95z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x38e1092499ffa89d:0x6567a6d4697e7f1!8m2!3d33.778175!4d76.5761714">geographical location</a> both countries “claimed” Kashmir, but it was generally <a href="http://www.defencejournal.com/nov98/indkashmir.htm">assumed that it would accede to Pakistan</a> as it had a <a href="https://mediadiversified.org/2016/07/17/kashmir-needs-a-political-solution-not-military-action/">majority Muslim population</a>. </p>
<p>Three wars in 1965, 1971 and 1999, and a <a href="http://www.dw.com/en/what-is-fueling-the-jammu-and-kashmir-insurgency/a-19065260">longstanding insurgency</a> mean that the region remains disputed, with both nations, as well as China, controlling the territory. Kashmir is the most densely militarised region in the world with over <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0402/p04s01-wosc.html">half a million troops</a> stationed there. The United Nations estimates that in the last 25 years 100,000 people have died and a further <a href="https://www.ecoi.net/file_upload/1930_1460634587_g1603063.pdf">8-10,000 individuals have “disappeared”</a>.</p>
<h2>Gendered violence</h2>
<p>Those subjected to enforced disappearances tend to be men, but women are the unreported victims of war. As in many conflicts, the army and police have been accused of <a href="https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/INDIA935.PDF">rape</a>, sometimes to force compliance. The Kunan Poshspora incident is just one high profile example: in 1991, an estimated <a href="http://www.hindustantimes.com/india/kunan-poshpora-a-forgotten-mass-rape-case-of-2-kashmir-villages/story-1rmD1TqawPnMMB11LQzgyJ.html">40 women from two Kashmir villages</a> were gang raped by members of the Indian army in just one night. </p>
<p>The Indian government has registered 1,336 cases of rape in Kashmir since 2006, but there <a href="http://www.milligazette.com/news/7188-1336-rape-cases-in-kashmir-in-seven-years-conviction-rate-woefully-low">have been few convictions</a>. Official statistics on sexual violence are very conservative: 12% of interviewees who took part in a <a href="https://ru.msf.org/sites/russia/files/migrated/KASHMIR_FINAL_VERSION,_221106.pdf">2005 study by Médecins Sans Frontières</a> reported that they had been victims of sexual violence since 1989.</p>
<p>At present, the number of half-widows remains unconfirmed: the Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JCCS) estimates there are <a href="http://www.jkccs.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Half-Widow-Half-Wife-APDP-report.pdf">1,500 half-widows</a> while other estimates put the number <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2010/oct/11/1">closer to 2,500</a>. </p>
<p>Half-widows face financial difficulties because they cannot access their husband’s property or bank accounts since death certificates are required for this. But these are not available since their husbands are not officially recognised as deceased. Under Muslim personal law, a person cannot be declared dead until seven years after their disappearance. There is <a href="http://www.ihrc.org.uk/publications/briefings/9967-half-widows-in-kashmir">government assistance</a> but many would not want to accept this money as they see the state as responsible for their husband’s disappearance.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TkWTFhXayjs?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>For those that do decide to apply for government support, this ex gratia relief is only available once <a href="http://www.jkccs.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Half-Widow-Half-Wife-APDP-report.pdf">more than seven years</a> have passed since the husband went missing. The disappeared person also needs to be cleared of any militant-related activity. This should be relatively simple as <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/asa20/002/1999/en/">Amnesty International</a> and <a href="https://www.hrw.org/reports/2006/india0906/">Human Rights Watch</a> state that the disappeared are mainly farmers, students or skilled workers. However, the government often finds “evidence” that the individual is part of the insurgency. </p>
<p>Those who do manage to receive government assistance have <a href="http://www.internetjournalofcriminology.com/Crew_Disappearances_In_Kashmir.pdf">reported corrupt practices</a> with some officials asking for a percentage of the payment or sexual favours. If they do receive a payment, the women <a href="http://www.jkccs.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Half-Widow-Half-Wife-APDP-report.pdf">often live in poverty</a> as the monies are shared or even seized by the paternal family, or the half-widow is forced to leave their marital home.</p>
<h2>Life in limbo</h2>
<p>Remarriage is considered a taboo and so many do not remarry in the hope that their husband will eventually return. Others decide against remarriage, often because they are concerned that a stepfather will <a href="http://www.jkccs.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Half-Widow-Half-Wife-APDP-report.pdf">not accept another man’s children</a>. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/StBDJN_npKQ?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>Despite it being unlikely that they have links with the insurgency, half-widows report feeling that they are <a href="http://www.atimes.com/ind-pak/AK19Df03.html">negatively associated with the violence</a>. For those women who do want to remarry, the religious interpretations of the rules around remarriage when a person has disappeared had, up until recently, been contested. In 2014, a landmark decision reduced the waiting period for remarriage <a href="http://www.c-r.org/news-and-views/news/breakthrough-ruling-kashmir-%E2%80%98half-widows%E2%80%99">from seven to four</a> years.</p>
<p>The Kashmir state government is taking important steps to support women by setting up <a href="http://reviewsofliterature.org/UploadArticle/182.pdf">empowerment programmes</a> via women’s groups and non-governmental development organisations and Kashmiri women have themselves created self-help groups for victims of rape. Programmes have also started to tackle gendered violence experienced through political turmoil or domestic violence, as well as traditional practices such as sex-selective abortion and female infanticide. </p>
<p>Other women have become empowered by activism: a mother who got little support to find her missing son created the <a href="https://bir.brandeis.edu/bitstream/handle/10192/23859/Vanniaskam,%2520Shelani%2520Thesis.pdf?sequence=1">Association of Parents for Disappeared Persons</a>, for example. </p>
<p>As the <a href="http://www.redcross.org.uk/What-we-do/Finding-missing-family/International-Day-of-the-Disappeared">International Day of the Disappeared</a> approaches, it is important for advocacy groups to raise awareness of the gendered nature of violence and the plight of Kashmir’s half-widows, so that these women are no longer forgotten.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/62708/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Teresa Crew does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>What happens to mothers, wives and daughters left behind after conflict?Teresa Crew, Lecturer in Social Policy, Bangor UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/137862013-05-24T23:17:25Z2013-05-24T23:17:25ZMissing and found: understanding the privacy needs of missing people<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/23252/original/348w77cm-1367816109.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">With social media site details routinely used in missing persons investigations, experts are asking: where is the line drawn on privacy needs?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Media stories about missing people are as intriguing as they are common. As a community, we form our own opinions of the person who is absent by the details that the media shares with the public.</p>
<p>But often these very same details used to find a missing person are in direct conflict with the person’s privacy rights while they are away and when they return.</p>
<p>So how do we decide what to share? </p>
<p>Each year <a href="http://www.missingpersons.gov.au/research/reports/missing-persons-australia.aspx">35,000 reports</a> are made to Australian police about the safety and wellbeing of a person whose whereabouts are unknown. This equates to <a href="http://www.salvationarmy.org.au/en/find-help/family-tracing/MissingPersonStatistics/">one report every 15 minutes</a>. </p>
<p>Of that figure almost half will be under 18 years old, but a high proportion will be absent due to concerns for their mental health – across all ages and genders. The figures are significant from a public health perspective, but the rates of location are high, with more than <a href="https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/196465.pdf">95% of people returning home</a> within one month of being reported missing. The implications of sharing details when we consider the privacy needs of those missing due to mental health challenges is not yet known. </p>
<p>The cases of missing children, feared abducted, are given heightened media attention due to the vulnerability of the circumstances in which they disappeared. Media reports reveal details of age, gender, and marital status and in many cases the <a href="http://www.sane.org/information/factsheets-podcasts/739-has-someone-close-to-you-with-a-mental-illness-gone-missing">medical and psychiatric history of the missing person</a>. </p>
<p>It is not a crime to go missing in Australia. Investigative methods used by police include reviewing access to bank accounts, mobile phone records and in some cases the media, as well as <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2010-09-23/social-media-aids-search-for-missing-persons/2271880">social media platforms</a>, to garner community assistance. Chief Inspector Paul Roussos of <a href="http://www.police.nsw.gov.au/community_issues/missing_persons">NSW Police Missing Persons Unit</a> says that each case is treated sensitively, and indicates that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>…[the] release of information (to the media) is only done so with the permission of the missing persons family. A missing persons mental health will normally be covered with this general approach,“ adding that each case is treated sensitively.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Jack Heath, CEO of <a href="http://www.sane.org/">SANE Australia</a>, a national mental health charity, acknowledges the space between location and confidentiality:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>A balance needs to be struck between the missing person’s right to privacy and the need to discover their whereabouts if serious concerns exist regarding their health or safety. The stigma of mental illness can, unfortunately, negatively affect the public perception of the person who is missing, he explains.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Sarah Eagle lived in this space between wanting to find her brother Ben and wanting to <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2011/07/13/3268593.htm">respect his privacy</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>During the search for him I remember thinking he’d be really embarrassed about all the fuss; the media, helicopters, sniffer dogs and the 300 people taking time out of their lives to search for him. Sadly he was never found, it was a remote area with little water, and he was suffering from a mental illness. </p>
<p>That embarrassment pales in comparison to an unfortunate and lonely mountain death, but I wasn’t the one with a serious mental illness, I couldn’t ever know how it was for Ben. </p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/23301/original/f5cx8658-1367892282.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/23301/original/f5cx8658-1367892282.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/23301/original/f5cx8658-1367892282.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/23301/original/f5cx8658-1367892282.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/23301/original/f5cx8658-1367892282.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/23301/original/f5cx8658-1367892282.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/23301/original/f5cx8658-1367892282.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">During missing persons investigations, police gain access to mobile phone records and social media platforms, like Facebook.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Australian Federal Police</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Finding the middle ground between the need to locate and the need to respect a persons decision to walk away, places families in a challenging position. Without having the person in sight, families have little information as to what impact the revealing of private information might have on the missing person while they are away and when they return.</p>
<p>There is <a href="http://www.aic.gov.au/media_library/conferences/children/henderso.pdf">no organisation in Australia</a> that represents the support needs of those who are located. To assist them in reengaging with their lives or to prevent them from going missing again. <a href="http://www.aic.gov.au/media_library/conferences/policewomen3/kiernan.pdf">Significant research gaps</a> need to be addressed to understand why people go missing and why they return, if we are going to lessen the rate of missing cases in Australia. </p>
<p>Internationally, the <a href="http://www.geographiesofmissingpeople.org.u">ESRC Geographies of Missing People Project</a> is conducting research into returned missing people. Olivia Stevenson, a research fellow at Glasgow University, explains that there is limited understanding in exploring the ways in which adults disappear. Emerging research findings show that perceptions about missing people are built around a conversation that is only conducted between the police and the next of kin. </p>
<p>Stevenson explains that this understanding is:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>…not neutral but establishes a series of interpretations and inferences about possible drivers for missing, where that person might be, who they might be with and how to locate them as quickly as possible.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The challenge is that decisions about the sharing of details has to occur without the missing persons consent, as well as the understanding about why they are missing or what they might need when they return.</p>
<p>Sarah Eagle argues that in broadening our discourse around missing persons in Australia we need to working in consultation with people who have returned from being missing, as they are key to understanding what it is really like to be desperate enough to vanish.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.missingpersons.gov.au/awareness/campaigns/youthchildrens-day.aspx">International Missing Children’s Day</a> on May 25 focuses on the profiles of those children who are yet to be found. This is when we turn our attention to the children that are currently not here (and the people left behind), and hoping that there may also be room for placing the needs of adult missing persons into the conversation. </p>
<p>We need to know more about those that are found; about what brought them back and about how people reclaimed their lives - after going missing - in an attempt to understand what might stop them from disappearing again.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/13786/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sarah Wayland does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Media stories about missing people are as intriguing as they are common. As a community, we form our own opinions of the person who is absent by the details that the media shares with the public. But often…Sarah Wayland, PhD candidate , University of New EnglandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.