A new website and podcast series have been launched to tackle the myths and misunderstandings around missing person issues.
Missing Persons Uncovered seeks to empower the public to protect vulnerable loved ones with real-life testimonials and insights from practitioners in the field.
Research by the University of Portsmouth’s professor Karen Shalev-Greene estimates some eight million people go missing around the world each year, and 155,000 go missing in the UK alone. But the reasons people disappear are varied, complex, personal, and rooted in broader social issues.
A missing person can be of any age and vulnerable for several reasons. From mental health issues, dementia, or even abduction, the terminology can present a challenge to practitioners who want to help the public understand how to assess the risk to a loved one and seek appropriate support.
Shalev-Greene has teamed up with Caroline Humer, a U.S.-based child protection expert with more than 20 years of experience, to create the podcast and the website. The podcast begins with a double bill of episodes that define what it means to go missing, explore why people disappear, and the reporting process.
Shalev-Greene is a professor in Missing Persons Studies, and her interest is in challenging the “missing person pandemic” and supporting those who disappear.
“My father was a fighter pilot in Israel and was captured during the Yom Kippur War. He was considered missing in action for a few days, and when he returned, he would occasionally disappear for several days. Years later, when I went to a conference on missing persons, I realized that this is what I’ll be focussing on for the rest of my working life,” she said.
The Missing Persons Uncovered podcast aims to get beneath the surface of an emergency nation’s face worldwide. But Humer says many misconceptions are hindering the safe search and return of missing people:
“In many TV shows and movies, it is still portrayed that when reporting a missing person, one would have to wait 24 or 48 hours. This is a myth we need to debunk as it hinders the actual investigation and puts the missing person at greater risk,” said Humer.
The pair have recorded conversations with world-leading academics and practitioners, who are also working to raise public awareness and help people understand what action to take when a loved one goes missing or may be vulnerable to this. Interviewees range from former police heads to search and rescue volunteers and those working for charities that support missing persons, their families, and services.
Shalev-Greene and Humer hope a mix of real-life testimonials and first-hand experiences from relatives of missing persons will help listeners recognize the warning signs and feel empowered to take action to protect their loved ones.
“Our goal is to reach the general public and provide them with knowledge on how prevalent the issue is and what they can do to help support the missing person or the organizations involved in protecting and finding them,” said Humer.
Find out more about the Missing Persons Uncovered project, listen to the podcast, and find links to support on the website missingpersonsuncovered.com
You can follow the podcast on your favorite app or listen via https://podfollow.com/missingpersonsuncovered.
