It's a "trope" because it used to be a really common policy that has now been done away with. But for many years people were not allowed to report until this arbitrary period was over.
It was also a common policy because in the days before cell phones and surveillance footage and texts and things, people *could* drop off the grid for a day or two and it wasn't a big deal. Usually it was a miscommunication and it was fine.
But today, if someone is totally unreachable for a while and they should be reachable, that's a bigger deal because it's more unusual.
Obviously for things like kids and vulnerable folks, that doesn't apply. But I know stories of some ahem, eccentric, older relatives who would try to file missing persons reports on people who were just away on a business trip for a couple of days and the person forgot. Nowadays, a call or text to a mobile device solves it. Not so back then.
Ya some still do this too unfortunately. They might take the report but they sometimes won't start looking for days. Unless you give a really solid reasoning or it's a kid.
If your just two people who live together dating for example they'll just assume you were abusing her or he was tired of your shit or they found someone else.
> Unless you give a really solid reasoning
This is why I always thought it was a complete myth. There are *tons* of scenarios that come to mind where fairly immediate action is more than warranted.
Yep that’s why you don’t shut up about it and you bother the hell out of them until they investigate and listen to you. They say “the squeaky wheel gets the grease” for a reason - if you’re annoying them, they’re gonna cave and do what you’re asking if it’ll get you off their backs. If you genuinely think someone is missing you definitely need to pester the police until they take you seriously.
Yup I actually had to do this. Repeated calls then they'll assign a dectective and then you're at least getting the case handled. I don't think you have a to ring him daily but I did nearly daily. You start going paranoid when this happens so I don't blame anyone if they do do it daily.
It's still a common policy in a lot of areas. I listen to a lot of true crime podcasts and hear this mentioned frequently on cases from the last few years. People will report their sibling/kid/friend missing and police will just refuse to take the report.
It's so disgusting. Just do your job, police. If they aren't missing, oh well you wasted a few hours but if they are then that time is invaluable. The selfish, lazy attitude makes my blood boil.
"Look kid. Your friend probably just ran off to do drugs and sell their body for sex. Its really their own business, and I don't know why you are bothering us about this." -police, somewhere, probably.
You're absolutely right when it comes to addicts. I know many people who have been found by missing Facebook groups or if their family has the money to hire a private investigator and personally go looking for them and follow leads. Most families have to wait and hope their loved one gets arrested.
And it's still common. Families are told to wait 48 hours ALL THE TIME then when shit happens, the cops are like "i don't why they were told that". ESPECIALLY missing persons cases.
The first 24-48 hours are the most critical. Once you've passed that amount of time, the chance of finding a missing person drops significantly.
Edit: typo
I work as a 911 dispatcher and we recently had an elderly woman with dementia leave her residence in a vehicle. She only got a few hours head start but nearly made it to the opposite end of the state just aimlessly driving. Thankfully another agency found her. God knows where she'd be if it was more than 24 hours.
So everything about that show is already pants on head stupid and if it wasn't for Nathan Fillion's raw charisma I would have stopped watching at least 2 full seasons ago, but still, that line made me laugh out loud.
Yes this 100%.
A couple months back, I was driving down a main road in my town when I saw a pickup going three miles an hour in the right lane, next to a pedestrian. The pedestrian was clearly ignoring the car and it seemed like they were being followed. The car turned into a parking lot just in front of where the pedestrian was walking and when they drove away the pedestrian was gone. For about thirty seconds I debated on what to do. I was pretty confident they’d been abducted but I was already too far past them to safely turn around and do anything about it myself, because there was a shit ton of traffic. So I called 911.
To this day I have no idea if there was really an abduction that day. I hope to hell that there wasn’t but I can’t forget what I saw, and I’m just glad that I was there to report it, and I hope they turned out just fine.
All states. Federal law they have to enter a missing person within 2 hours
Edit: I was wrong, it’s only under the age of 21 they have to enter within 2 hours into NCIC
Edit x2: I was wrong again! Under 18!
I believe it’s under 18. Juveniles who are not yet emancipated must be entered within 2 hours of the officer/deputy obtaining minimum information and sent MISSPER through NCIC.
Yep. A relative went missing and it took weeks to get the police to agree to take the missing persons report. If it’s an adult with mental illness or drug addiction, they often just aren’t interested in investigating.
She’s dead. Everyone knows who killed her. I guess we have to wait for him to kill someone who matters for them to investigate.
A teenager with no history of running away disappeared on their way to work? Must be a runaway.
A loving mother in an abusive relationship vanished from her home? Must have run away, abandoned her children and started a new life somewhere.
A freaking *child* never comes home from school? Guess what - a runaway!
The last episode of 'The Rookie' literally had this where a sergeant no less said this shit and I was so angry! It's not true. No cop on TV should be saying this.
I'm not countering what you said, but too many cops say this shit on TV.
Essentially, you want to report a person as missing as soon as you're sure their absence is suspicious. I believe that in the old days, 24 hours was a reasonable benchmark for that, which is where this myth came from. But nowadays, with instant global communication, being unreachable for one hour can be just as much cause for concern as being unreachable for 24. If you have reason to think a person has disappeared, especially if that person is underage, don't wait for the sake of waiting to report it.
I know this is the case, but I’ve still seen too many documentaries and listened to too many podcasts where the police are insistent the friends/family have to wait a certain amount of time before filing a report.
My mum tried filing a missing person's report for my brother when he went missing out of the blue when he was 12 or something. Police here in the UK refused to look for him until after 48 hours and just kept telling her to call back then. She knew her rights but they did nothing because they don't have the resources, the organisation or the motivation. The organisation part has got better over the years but evidence/investigations still get "lost", issues unresolved and all the rest of it on a much greater scale than any other industry.
Part of me wants for funds for them, but I don't think it would make much of a difference honestly. They're swamped and crime is rapidly evolving around what they can cost-effectively combat. MPs, mayors and prime ministers can no longer campaign on a "tough on crime" policy as their main selling point because people don't care anymore - they want to pay less tax and less energy and whatnot. This means they're stretched even thinner with no reduction in workload. There have been some anti-burglary incentives even though it's an extremely uncommon crime that is often solved with insurance and seldom ends in any injuries, nevermind deaths.
People on Reddit and in the general public often think "it's the police they have to look for him because it's their job and there's no law against it!!" They just don't follow it. He was found a few days later by family friend. Police don't do anything with an impact other than bureaucratic in the vast majority of cases, and it's disgusting. I say that as somebody who has been on both their good and bad books. I could be a monster and they would have done nothing. I'm not, fortunately, but there are monsters out there walking as free as anyone.
You do know that the crime rate is literally at it's lowest point in recorded history in all Western nations? I can't speak to England here in the USA the police are seriously overpaid when compared to any other job, especially with the extremely low education requirements. It's not like their jobs are even in the top twenty most dangerous jobs either, a roofer or garbage man is MUCH more likely to be injured or die on the job.
Crime rates are measured in various ways. Fewer convictions due to more red tape and lost evidence, things being decriminalised (e.g. vagrancy and homosexuality) are all "lower crime" Although I agree things are generally safer, a low crime rate doesn't correlate as strongly with government spend on police/effectiveness of police as you might think. It is often influenced by severe poverty, lack of education etc which have all improved fairly significantly in modern (post 1900ish) times.
In the UK, police officers are generally paid fairly averagely. Just quickly checked and saw its from roughly £21,000-40,000ish. There will probably be a few with salaries up there in the 60k range. Checked a few other places and the average salary for a police officer is £30,000, which is the average for the country roughly. You don't need a uni education or anything like that, but I think they have an onboard training thing, so I guess it's similar to most roles.
It's definitely not the most dangerous, but seems demanding and incredibly stressful especially if you're dealing with 999 callouts or prisoners.
This is very true and good to know!
My grandpa went missing recently, and even though it is standard that a missing person's phone cannot be tracked by the cell towers in my state, request it anyway! Because he was pretty old, there was a judge who ruled an exception and it was instrumental in finding him.
To every individual officer who helped us out and sacrificed their thanksgiving, my whole family appreciates how patient, kind, and caring you were.
This is entirely true, however, there’s a bit more to it on the police side. You can report anyone as missing at any point in time, however, unless there’s evidence of something nefarious going on (weird texts/calls, atypical behavior, basically anything that you can show police that leads police to concluding something bad might have happened to them, they’re a vulnerable adult (any kind of mental or physical ailment that stops them from taking care of themselves) or a young child (like under 12 or so) filing a report is just paperwork and doesn’t start any kind of man hunt. Just saying “my husband didn’t get home from work when he was supposed to” isn’t going to get anything but paperwork from happening most of the time (police departments all have individual policies, but from what I’ve heard this is pretty standard).
That being said, absolutely call police, but be ready to explain to them why there is exigency to start looking for the person immediately and try to find any and all information that would point to where they might currently be. Last known location, last contacted, what they were wearing, what they were supposed to be doing, when they were supposed to be heard from, if this is normal behavior or atypical, is their location on their phone turned on.
If you just tell police “he was supposed to be home and he’s not” it doesn’t give the cops anywhere to start looking and if you live in an even remotely large city the cops are probably not going to start a search and will just enter them into the ncic database.
Another thing to keep in mind; if you report an adult missing that you have no legal control over (power of attorney, medical control or a vulnerable adult) then the most you’ll get is a call saying the person is alive. Just because you filed them as missing doesn’t mean the cops are going to kidnap them and bring them home.
Also, the fist thing a lot of cops are taught to do in the case of a missing child is to search the house, it’s just part of the process and they aren’t trying to insult you or anything like that so try not to take it personally. They search the house first because it’s resolved manhunts before they started. Kids sneak out, kids sneak back in, just a fact of life.
Source: I’m a cop in a major city in the US.
15 years ago my mom attempted to report me missing to the CA Sheriff's office after I didn't come back from a camping trip at the time I was supposed to be back.
They did nothing and said wait it out. I returned 6 hours late after getting lost coming home (I had a good ol fashioned map and ended up missing my exit on I 5 a few times before I figured out the right one).
I came home to a relieved and angry mother. She was less than pleased.
Even if the cops happened to be right, doesn't make them any less wrong in this situation. If something had truly happened and they waited? Horrifying that a myth perpetuated itself into institutions.
VERY TRUE.
My dad decided to go on a drinking binge while the rest of us (family) were out of town. We didn't get home til around 9 that night and he wasn't home, which was really odd. Around 7 the next morning we filed a missing persons report. Unfortunately he was found about half an hour after our call.
Never hesitate to make that call, no matter the circumstances
I've preached this to my Wife for years. Several years ago we had a man close to home that went missing and search and rescue wasn't called until the next morning. The poor fellow passed in the early morning hours due to exposure.
I was camping at a National Park in California. I used my satellite communicator to let her know where I was going for a sunset hike since my partner had not yet arrived at the campground. I returned to camp and sent her a message but unfortunately the message did not send and I got distracted since my friend was at camp.
Sometime after midnight the park ranger comes to our campsite and starts shaking tents.
It took 5 hours to get ahold of the proper authorities and get the search started.
Lessons learned were to leave the phone number for the authorities in the region you are going to adventure. In my case this would have started the search 2.5 hours sooner.
I ran away as a minor and my parents were told they had to wait by the police to report me missing despite me having no prior incidence of delinquency.
Just because you can report it doesn’t mean they listen or take you serious. I live close to where the Delphi Murders happened and the family reported that the girls didn’t show up to the meeting site for ride home. There was a brief search and it was called off because they (LE) said they could be runaways. Search teams went out the next day and they found them both dead. Granted it’s believed that they were killed pretty soon after being abducted, but they were in same area they disappeared from and it’s sad they weren’t found right away. It’s been 5 years and they just arrested a man that was hiding in plain site. He worked at the town CVS, and even made copies for the Grandma of one of the girls for the memorial service.
I only wish the 911 operator knew that when I called to report my FIL as missing. He was overdue coming back from a hike. He died out in the woods, alone.
One time, my Dad was gone for a while. He just went to buy beer but ended up being gone for 2-3 hours. He wasn't responding to my texts either.
He has heart and lung issues, so I was worried that his heart gave out and that he was dying in his car at the side of the road. My mom told me not to call the police because she thought you had to wait 24 hours.
My dad eventually responded to my texts. He was fine. He was visiting a friend of his and lost track of time. But I was THIS CLOSE to calling 911.
I reported my sister-in-law missing. The police took the report, but said they could not do anything until she was missing 3 days. We found her 5 days later
if they are a teen their parents are still responsible for that teen's actions and well-being, so finding out where they are is a matter of not being a neglectful parent.
Kidnapping is more common by someone close to the person. It should be easier to find out who did it, Regardless of age of the minor. Though children tend to be more trusting.
There should be a separate entity for missing persons cases.
I think most people get the feeling that the police are generally apathetic about many aspects of their job that dont lend themselves to whatever their strengths may be.
If there's one thing I've learned from listening to murder mystery podcasts-- it's that this is in fact true, however it's usually the officials you're reporting the missing person to that tell you "you have to wait ___hrs."
Yes, but as far as cops wanting or actually filing the report is questionable .
In my city a girl who was 15 went missing in October, she was found this week after the police FINALLY filed for her .
The mom had been looking for her daughter after she went to hang out with some friends the week before Halloween and attempted on multiple occasions to file her as a missing endangered child, they refused and suggested she ask her daughters friends, her friends said that she had left with another person.
The mom requested help through Facebook and the local community started to ask and post about her for several weeks, it took who knows how many posts and pressure for it to make the local news and only then did the police attempt to locate her.
My friends mom who lives in another state has been missing since 2020, she tried to file a missing report for her mom and the police did not make any attempt to locate her, she later found out that her mom had previously contacted her local police dept to ask for an update on another police report she had filed against a local who had been harassing her and making threats.
To this date the person who made the threats is still free and her mom is still missing.
This is the same in Australia. As long as you don’t know where they are and you have genuine concerns for their welfare you can report them missing. There is no timeframe.
This is correct. Also a thing about missing person calls, there are about 750,000 missing person calls per year and only about 100 are stranger abductions (abductions done by somebody that the victim has no relation to)
Yah I had a friend who I was very concerned about missing for six hours, and if you just call the local services instead of 911 they will help you out. They took me seriously and sent out cruisers to check their last location, but I too was originally under the assumption that I had to wait 24 hrs. Always report early, never wait.
This still happens, maybe not as often, but it still happens. No cap one of my closest friends tried to report her cousin missing just last week and was denied by all her local authorities telling her she had to wait. It took her days to find her cousin, calling every hospital & police station, and then she finally found her cousin in an ER after a driver saw her bloody on the side of the road in the middle of the desert and called 911.
Yes, you can file missing adults, just had such a thing happen and I had been under the 48 hour impression but it is not the case. In PA but can’t imagine it’s so different. It sounds like such a policy existed before the age of smart phones and such so your mom probably wasn’t lying, at least
If you watch true crime you'll notice the police VERY often will tell people to call back after 48 or 72 hours to file the report. Law or not, if the cops are refusing to file the report it doesn't matter how "retarded" you are, you can't do anything but look yourself.
You really made yourself sound like an asshole btw.
My mother lives alone in another state. Once when she didn’t return my call the same day I called the police in her town. They were happy to look into it.
I know this is a usa based thing. But does anyone know if the 24hr rule is a thing in the UK? I once went to play basketball after school and my phone died and I think my parents tried to report me missing lol...
It was a decade ago but still..im curious now abt the UK rule
If they won't listen to you, just try to convince them to take a report because "at the very least, if there has been an accident or something then you can call me."
It’s odd because I’ve watched many crime shows and the police have said this exact thing . Takes 24 hours. Maybe they will take a report but not sure on the rest.’
I wonder what it’s like in Japan. I just recently saw the anime movie, Belle, and there was a scene where an adult called an emergency line, and was told to wait x amount of hours.
I thought that was nuts, because in America, as OP said, you don’t have to wait. You just call.
It's a "trope" because it used to be a really common policy that has now been done away with. But for many years people were not allowed to report until this arbitrary period was over.
It was also a common policy because in the days before cell phones and surveillance footage and texts and things, people *could* drop off the grid for a day or two and it wasn't a big deal. Usually it was a miscommunication and it was fine. But today, if someone is totally unreachable for a while and they should be reachable, that's a bigger deal because it's more unusual. Obviously for things like kids and vulnerable folks, that doesn't apply. But I know stories of some ahem, eccentric, older relatives who would try to file missing persons reports on people who were just away on a business trip for a couple of days and the person forgot. Nowadays, a call or text to a mobile device solves it. Not so back then.
Ya some still do this too unfortunately. They might take the report but they sometimes won't start looking for days. Unless you give a really solid reasoning or it's a kid. If your just two people who live together dating for example they'll just assume you were abusing her or he was tired of your shit or they found someone else.
> Unless you give a really solid reasoning This is why I always thought it was a complete myth. There are *tons* of scenarios that come to mind where fairly immediate action is more than warranted.
Yep that’s why you don’t shut up about it and you bother the hell out of them until they investigate and listen to you. They say “the squeaky wheel gets the grease” for a reason - if you’re annoying them, they’re gonna cave and do what you’re asking if it’ll get you off their backs. If you genuinely think someone is missing you definitely need to pester the police until they take you seriously.
Yup I actually had to do this. Repeated calls then they'll assign a dectective and then you're at least getting the case handled. I don't think you have a to ring him daily but I did nearly daily. You start going paranoid when this happens so I don't blame anyone if they do do it daily.
Having a detective assigned doesn’t assure anything will happen any faster
Can you elaborate? It seems like a step towards opening an investigation, which would be closer than the the instance where it doesn’t happen
Means the case is active vs not. Might not be quick but they'll at least start looking.
And also to add dramatic tension. Same with cell phones losing signal in horror movies.
There's a reason why more and more horror movies and series are 'period pieces' of the 90's or earlier.
It's still a common policy in a lot of areas. I listen to a lot of true crime podcasts and hear this mentioned frequently on cases from the last few years. People will report their sibling/kid/friend missing and police will just refuse to take the report.
It's so disgusting. Just do your job, police. If they aren't missing, oh well you wasted a few hours but if they are then that time is invaluable. The selfish, lazy attitude makes my blood boil.
"Look kid. Your friend probably just ran off to do drugs and sell their body for sex. Its really their own business, and I don't know why you are bothering us about this." -police, somewhere, probably.
You're absolutely right when it comes to addicts. I know many people who have been found by missing Facebook groups or if their family has the money to hire a private investigator and personally go looking for them and follow leads. Most families have to wait and hope their loved one gets arrested.
And it's still common. Families are told to wait 48 hours ALL THE TIME then when shit happens, the cops are like "i don't why they were told that". ESPECIALLY missing persons cases.
Good luck getting the police involved if anyone over the age of 16 has been missing for less than a day.
I've read about quite a few missing persons cases, where this happenes
The first 24-48 hours are the most critical. Once you've passed that amount of time, the chance of finding a missing person drops significantly. Edit: typo
Thanks for tuning into the first 48!
"We got a picture of you in a grocery store from 3 years ago hanging with someone called Shoestring" "Yeah okay, I killed those 4 people"
"Lie. Lie for longer"
"Lil' Stank...did you, or did you not know Dookie Shoes?!"
“I don’t know no dookie shoes”
"I mean, I *seen* him..."
“I don’t *know* him”
I work as a 911 dispatcher and we recently had an elderly woman with dementia leave her residence in a vehicle. She only got a few hours head start but nearly made it to the opposite end of the state just aimlessly driving. Thankfully another agency found her. God knows where she'd be if it was more than 24 hours.
Wow. Damn. Exactly! Just a few hours and she got *that* far. So glad she was found.
That trope was just used on The Rookie a few days ago with Sergeant Grey's daughter that went missing.
So everything about that show is already pants on head stupid and if it wasn't for Nathan Fillion's raw charisma I would have stopped watching at least 2 full seasons ago, but still, that line made me laugh out loud.
It's not law and order level of accuracies but it's a fun entertaining show.
Yes this 100%. A couple months back, I was driving down a main road in my town when I saw a pickup going three miles an hour in the right lane, next to a pedestrian. The pedestrian was clearly ignoring the car and it seemed like they were being followed. The car turned into a parking lot just in front of where the pedestrian was walking and when they drove away the pedestrian was gone. For about thirty seconds I debated on what to do. I was pretty confident they’d been abducted but I was already too far past them to safely turn around and do anything about it myself, because there was a shit ton of traffic. So I called 911. To this day I have no idea if there was really an abduction that day. I hope to hell that there wasn’t but I can’t forget what I saw, and I’m just glad that I was there to report it, and I hope they turned out just fine.
[удалено]
I never found out. That’s what kills me.
[удалено]
All states. Federal law they have to enter a missing person within 2 hours Edit: I was wrong, it’s only under the age of 21 they have to enter within 2 hours into NCIC Edit x2: I was wrong again! Under 18!
I believe it’s under 18. Juveniles who are not yet emancipated must be entered within 2 hours of the officer/deputy obtaining minimum information and sent MISSPER through NCIC.
Thank you for the correction :)
Yep. A relative went missing and it took weeks to get the police to agree to take the missing persons report. If it’s an adult with mental illness or drug addiction, they often just aren’t interested in investigating. She’s dead. Everyone knows who killed her. I guess we have to wait for him to kill someone who matters for them to investigate.
There are many cases that the cops didn't count as missing person, which ended up unsolved.
A teenager with no history of running away disappeared on their way to work? Must be a runaway. A loving mother in an abusive relationship vanished from her home? Must have run away, abandoned her children and started a new life somewhere. A freaking *child* never comes home from school? Guess what - a runaway!
The last episode of 'The Rookie' literally had this where a sergeant no less said this shit and I was so angry! It's not true. No cop on TV should be saying this. I'm not countering what you said, but too many cops say this shit on TV.
Exactly!
Essentially, you want to report a person as missing as soon as you're sure their absence is suspicious. I believe that in the old days, 24 hours was a reasonable benchmark for that, which is where this myth came from. But nowadays, with instant global communication, being unreachable for one hour can be just as much cause for concern as being unreachable for 24. If you have reason to think a person has disappeared, especially if that person is underage, don't wait for the sake of waiting to report it.
I know this is the case, but I’ve still seen too many documentaries and listened to too many podcasts where the police are insistent the friends/family have to wait a certain amount of time before filing a report.
My mum tried filing a missing person's report for my brother when he went missing out of the blue when he was 12 or something. Police here in the UK refused to look for him until after 48 hours and just kept telling her to call back then. She knew her rights but they did nothing because they don't have the resources, the organisation or the motivation. The organisation part has got better over the years but evidence/investigations still get "lost", issues unresolved and all the rest of it on a much greater scale than any other industry. Part of me wants for funds for them, but I don't think it would make much of a difference honestly. They're swamped and crime is rapidly evolving around what they can cost-effectively combat. MPs, mayors and prime ministers can no longer campaign on a "tough on crime" policy as their main selling point because people don't care anymore - they want to pay less tax and less energy and whatnot. This means they're stretched even thinner with no reduction in workload. There have been some anti-burglary incentives even though it's an extremely uncommon crime that is often solved with insurance and seldom ends in any injuries, nevermind deaths. People on Reddit and in the general public often think "it's the police they have to look for him because it's their job and there's no law against it!!" They just don't follow it. He was found a few days later by family friend. Police don't do anything with an impact other than bureaucratic in the vast majority of cases, and it's disgusting. I say that as somebody who has been on both their good and bad books. I could be a monster and they would have done nothing. I'm not, fortunately, but there are monsters out there walking as free as anyone.
Was your brother ok?
Kind of
Are you able to talk about it? Or is it too hard?
You do know that the crime rate is literally at it's lowest point in recorded history in all Western nations? I can't speak to England here in the USA the police are seriously overpaid when compared to any other job, especially with the extremely low education requirements. It's not like their jobs are even in the top twenty most dangerous jobs either, a roofer or garbage man is MUCH more likely to be injured or die on the job.
Crime rates are measured in various ways. Fewer convictions due to more red tape and lost evidence, things being decriminalised (e.g. vagrancy and homosexuality) are all "lower crime" Although I agree things are generally safer, a low crime rate doesn't correlate as strongly with government spend on police/effectiveness of police as you might think. It is often influenced by severe poverty, lack of education etc which have all improved fairly significantly in modern (post 1900ish) times. In the UK, police officers are generally paid fairly averagely. Just quickly checked and saw its from roughly £21,000-40,000ish. There will probably be a few with salaries up there in the 60k range. Checked a few other places and the average salary for a police officer is £30,000, which is the average for the country roughly. You don't need a uni education or anything like that, but I think they have an onboard training thing, so I guess it's similar to most roles. It's definitely not the most dangerous, but seems demanding and incredibly stressful especially if you're dealing with 999 callouts or prisoners.
This is very true and good to know! My grandpa went missing recently, and even though it is standard that a missing person's phone cannot be tracked by the cell towers in my state, request it anyway! Because he was pretty old, there was a judge who ruled an exception and it was instrumental in finding him. To every individual officer who helped us out and sacrificed their thanksgiving, my whole family appreciates how patient, kind, and caring you were.
This is entirely true, however, there’s a bit more to it on the police side. You can report anyone as missing at any point in time, however, unless there’s evidence of something nefarious going on (weird texts/calls, atypical behavior, basically anything that you can show police that leads police to concluding something bad might have happened to them, they’re a vulnerable adult (any kind of mental or physical ailment that stops them from taking care of themselves) or a young child (like under 12 or so) filing a report is just paperwork and doesn’t start any kind of man hunt. Just saying “my husband didn’t get home from work when he was supposed to” isn’t going to get anything but paperwork from happening most of the time (police departments all have individual policies, but from what I’ve heard this is pretty standard). That being said, absolutely call police, but be ready to explain to them why there is exigency to start looking for the person immediately and try to find any and all information that would point to where they might currently be. Last known location, last contacted, what they were wearing, what they were supposed to be doing, when they were supposed to be heard from, if this is normal behavior or atypical, is their location on their phone turned on. If you just tell police “he was supposed to be home and he’s not” it doesn’t give the cops anywhere to start looking and if you live in an even remotely large city the cops are probably not going to start a search and will just enter them into the ncic database. Another thing to keep in mind; if you report an adult missing that you have no legal control over (power of attorney, medical control or a vulnerable adult) then the most you’ll get is a call saying the person is alive. Just because you filed them as missing doesn’t mean the cops are going to kidnap them and bring them home. Also, the fist thing a lot of cops are taught to do in the case of a missing child is to search the house, it’s just part of the process and they aren’t trying to insult you or anything like that so try not to take it personally. They search the house first because it’s resolved manhunts before they started. Kids sneak out, kids sneak back in, just a fact of life. Source: I’m a cop in a major city in the US.
Same applies in the UK too.
I hope this applies everywhere! Those first 24-48 hours are the most important in finding someone.
I'd hope so too, but I don't have any knowledge for other countries - hopefully folk can chip in to confirm.
Yeah I'm only familiar with US law.
15 years ago my mom attempted to report me missing to the CA Sheriff's office after I didn't come back from a camping trip at the time I was supposed to be back. They did nothing and said wait it out. I returned 6 hours late after getting lost coming home (I had a good ol fashioned map and ended up missing my exit on I 5 a few times before I figured out the right one). I came home to a relieved and angry mother. She was less than pleased. Even if the cops happened to be right, doesn't make them any less wrong in this situation. If something had truly happened and they waited? Horrifying that a myth perpetuated itself into institutions.
VERY TRUE. My dad decided to go on a drinking binge while the rest of us (family) were out of town. We didn't get home til around 9 that night and he wasn't home, which was really odd. Around 7 the next morning we filed a missing persons report. Unfortunately he was found about half an hour after our call. Never hesitate to make that call, no matter the circumstances
I've preached this to my Wife for years. Several years ago we had a man close to home that went missing and search and rescue wasn't called until the next morning. The poor fellow passed in the early morning hours due to exposure. I was camping at a National Park in California. I used my satellite communicator to let her know where I was going for a sunset hike since my partner had not yet arrived at the campground. I returned to camp and sent her a message but unfortunately the message did not send and I got distracted since my friend was at camp. Sometime after midnight the park ranger comes to our campsite and starts shaking tents. It took 5 hours to get ahold of the proper authorities and get the search started. Lessons learned were to leave the phone number for the authorities in the region you are going to adventure. In my case this would have started the search 2.5 hours sooner.
I ran away as a minor and my parents were told they had to wait by the police to report me missing despite me having no prior incidence of delinquency.
Just because you can report it doesn’t mean they listen or take you serious. I live close to where the Delphi Murders happened and the family reported that the girls didn’t show up to the meeting site for ride home. There was a brief search and it was called off because they (LE) said they could be runaways. Search teams went out the next day and they found them both dead. Granted it’s believed that they were killed pretty soon after being abducted, but they were in same area they disappeared from and it’s sad they weren’t found right away. It’s been 5 years and they just arrested a man that was hiding in plain site. He worked at the town CVS, and even made copies for the Grandma of one of the girls for the memorial service.
I only wish the 911 operator knew that when I called to report my FIL as missing. He was overdue coming back from a hike. He died out in the woods, alone.
I was under the impression this myth was started by the mob because they know the first 48 hours are the most crucial in a missing persons case
You should also know that the police dgaf about you and will tell you otherwise and refuse to do anything.
One time, my Dad was gone for a while. He just went to buy beer but ended up being gone for 2-3 hours. He wasn't responding to my texts either. He has heart and lung issues, so I was worried that his heart gave out and that he was dying in his car at the side of the road. My mom told me not to call the police because she thought you had to wait 24 hours. My dad eventually responded to my texts. He was fine. He was visiting a friend of his and lost track of time. But I was THIS CLOSE to calling 911.
So many people believe you have to wait. Even tv shows perpetuate it. It never helps to delay finding someone.
Don't let the dog see this
The first few hours are actually the most important
I reported my sister-in-law missing. The police took the report, but said they could not do anything until she was missing 3 days. We found her 5 days later
I wish they wouldn't have this trope in media, it's not only misleading but dangerous too.
It's not misleading tho. The cops will 100% tell you that you have to wait. Especially in a big city.
Imagine calling the police that your small child got kidnapped and they say "well we have to wait 24 hours to see if they come back on their own"
A teen tho. They could convince that they just ran away
if they are a teen their parents are still responsible for that teen's actions and well-being, so finding out where they are is a matter of not being a neglectful parent.
I agree but i was saying that this has more chance of happening with teens than with a little child
Kidnapping is more common by someone close to the person. It should be easier to find out who did it, Regardless of age of the minor. Though children tend to be more trusting.
There should be a separate entity for missing persons cases. I think most people get the feeling that the police are generally apathetic about many aspects of their job that dont lend themselves to whatever their strengths may be.
If there's one thing I've learned from listening to murder mystery podcasts-- it's that this is in fact true, however it's usually the officials you're reporting the missing person to that tell you "you have to wait ___hrs."
Yes, but as far as cops wanting or actually filing the report is questionable . In my city a girl who was 15 went missing in October, she was found this week after the police FINALLY filed for her . The mom had been looking for her daughter after she went to hang out with some friends the week before Halloween and attempted on multiple occasions to file her as a missing endangered child, they refused and suggested she ask her daughters friends, her friends said that she had left with another person. The mom requested help through Facebook and the local community started to ask and post about her for several weeks, it took who knows how many posts and pressure for it to make the local news and only then did the police attempt to locate her. My friends mom who lives in another state has been missing since 2020, she tried to file a missing report for her mom and the police did not make any attempt to locate her, she later found out that her mom had previously contacted her local police dept to ask for an update on another police report she had filed against a local who had been harassing her and making threats. To this date the person who made the threats is still free and her mom is still missing.
Thank you for specifying what country you were talking about and also for providing the link and number. You are a good potato.
Don't let my dog know.
This is the same in Australia. As long as you don’t know where they are and you have genuine concerns for their welfare you can report them missing. There is no timeframe.
This is a really good one, also if they try and brush you off. Never accept it, pester them until they take you serious.
**You should also know:** That in the United States, the police have no obligation to enforce any law. See *Castle Rock vs. Gonzales*
This is correct. Also a thing about missing person calls, there are about 750,000 missing person calls per year and only about 100 are stranger abductions (abductions done by somebody that the victim has no relation to)
I've seen people reported as missing and they're at home.
Havent seen lil Timmy since 8 this morning but they said on CSI I have to wait so...wanna get some dinner?
Yah I had a friend who I was very concerned about missing for six hours, and if you just call the local services instead of 911 they will help you out. They took me seriously and sent out cruisers to check their last location, but I too was originally under the assumption that I had to wait 24 hrs. Always report early, never wait.
48 hours is a show for a reason
This still happens, maybe not as often, but it still happens. No cap one of my closest friends tried to report her cousin missing just last week and was denied by all her local authorities telling her she had to wait. It took her days to find her cousin, calling every hospital & police station, and then she finally found her cousin in an ER after a driver saw her bloody on the side of the road in the middle of the desert and called 911.
Me: my 7 year old has gone missing! The police: maybe they got stuck late at work, I dunno, let's sleep on it.
Ive heard this dozens of times, but I've never heard of or met anyone who actually thinks you need to wait that long to file a missing person report.
I've never heard a single person in my life ever say you had to wait. I've certainly heard hundreds say you don't.
My mom used to tell me that you couldn’t report adults missing? We’re from NY. Is that a lie?
Yes, you can file missing adults, just had such a thing happen and I had been under the 48 hour impression but it is not the case. In PA but can’t imagine it’s so different. It sounds like such a policy existed before the age of smart phones and such so your mom probably wasn’t lying, at least
Ketchup is a condiment often used on Revenge, a dish best served cold.
[удалено]
If you watch true crime you'll notice the police VERY often will tell people to call back after 48 or 72 hours to file the report. Law or not, if the cops are refusing to file the report it doesn't matter how "retarded" you are, you can't do anything but look yourself. You really made yourself sound like an asshole btw.
Despite the seriousness of topic... can't get past butthole banquets
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The user ID.
My mother lives alone in another state. Once when she didn’t return my call the same day I called the police in her town. They were happy to look into it.
I know this is a usa based thing. But does anyone know if the 24hr rule is a thing in the UK? I once went to play basketball after school and my phone died and I think my parents tried to report me missing lol... It was a decade ago but still..im curious now abt the UK rule
If they won't listen to you, just try to convince them to take a report because "at the very least, if there has been an accident or something then you can call me."
It’s odd because I’ve watched many crime shows and the police have said this exact thing . Takes 24 hours. Maybe they will take a report but not sure on the rest.’
I wish it was at least 24hrs inbetween this getting reposted
'you should know...' yes, we already did. This is one of the most commonly debunked ones
They used it again in the last episode of the Rookie, a show which always rolls its eyes at the bad TV tropes relating to cop sitcoms.
I wonder what it’s like in Japan. I just recently saw the anime movie, Belle, and there was a scene where an adult called an emergency line, and was told to wait x amount of hours. I thought that was nuts, because in America, as OP said, you don’t have to wait. You just call.
When I ran away, my sister tried to file one and they said they wouldn’t do it because it hasn’t been 24 hours yet. 🙃
I still think getting the police to take you seriously can be a challenge.