When a loved one goes missing, the friends and family members left behind are faced with an incredibly difficult and heartbreaking event.
Filled with anxiety and panic, many are forced to make the tough decision of choosing to raise awareness despite worrying they could be putting a vulnerable person at risk
According to UK Charity Missing People, 80% of adults who go missing will be experiencing mental health issues while other reasons include social care-related issues and conflict at home. And the charity says as many as 7 in 10 missing children incidents are not reported to the police by their families.
Black individuals are disproportionately represented in missing persons reports compared to their representation in the general population, with some stats suggesting they are four to five times more likely to be reported missing. Sadly, in this group too, Missing People discovered a reluctance to report incidents to the authorities.
Here the Mirror looks at some of the alarming reasons families choose to suffer in silence:
For people of colour who have had someone close to them disappear, navigating the help available can be very difficult.
Police forces have often hit the headlines for massive failings when it comes to missing people from this group.
High profile cases such as that of siblings Nicole Smallman and Bibaa Henry. who were found by their loved ones stabbed to death in June 2020, have highlighted poor treatment of victims and parents. In that case, police logs were closed by an inspector receiving information about the sisters’ possible whereabouts from a family member but the information was “inaccurately” recorded by a communications supervisor, so the inquires were not progressed properly.
Missing people are falling through the gaps, experiencing serious harm while they are away, with little or no support to help address the reasons why they left. They need help, so they don’t go missing again.
A dedicated strategy led by the Home Office, Department for Education, and Department for Health and Social Care would provide the proper attention and resources.
Without it, thousands will continue to go missing without support. and, when they return, there will be no meaningful opportunity to speak to anyone about why they went missing, or what happened while they were away. This leaves vulnerable people, who are often in crisis, with no support.
Life is never hopeless. Everyone should know that someone cares, and that help is available, including from the charity Missing People.
The Mirror is calling for:
• The publication of a new missing children and adults strategy to ensure police, health and social care play their part
• Investment in prevention for those at most risk of going missing
• Support to be offered to every missing child and adult on their return
You can help by signing our petition here.
To add to the pain caused by their brutal murders, pictures were taken of their bodies and shared by Metropolitan police officers Deniz Jaffer and Jamie Lewis who made sick jokes about them and were later jailed.
The women’s mother Mina Smallman said at the time that she felt police “didn’t care “and that they thought her daughter was “A Black woman who lived on a council estate”.
The handling of the missing people cases of Black and Brown people by police has raised serious concerns over their actions or lack thereof, as well as the racism that persists within policing.
The case of 19-year-old Richard Okeregheye highlighted the callous dismissal that Black mum, Evidence Joel received after she was told by a Metropolitan police officer, “if you can’t find your son, how do you expect police officers to find your son for you?”
The teenage sickle cell sufferer who left home without his medication was found dead in Epping two weeks later.
A report by Missing People called What We Know So Far – experiences of racial discrimination against missing people and their families – uncovered racial discrimination that people of colour have dealt with while trying to find their family members.
In surveys conducted by the charity, parents and children expressed how they felt they were “not listened to”, “not taken seriously” and even “treated like criminals”.
The report found that “racial discrimination” had a “significant impact” on public efforts to safeguard and find their missing person.
Sadly, Missing People also found that families did not want to report their child missing because of “poor responses in the past” even unrelated to a disappearance, and that a lack of trust in the police could impact on missing investigations.
Another reason why families choose to stay silent is the judgement many feel they will face for being seen as bad parents, according to Missingblackpeople.com founder Dominic Norton.
The tech entrepreneur set up a website dedicated to finding missing Black people after finding there was a lack of interest from both the authorities and the media.
Dominic said: “Parents don’t want to be seen as a bad parents so sometimes they might not leverage all the resources of the community because there’s a lot of judgement. It’s very harmful, it’s not limited to Black communities, Asian communities are the same.
“There’s lots of communities that are the same but there is a lot of judgement on parenting. I think it’s hard for parents especially if they haven’t grown up in the UK. Understanding the systems, understanding what is done and why it’s done and where you can go to and who you can get help from.”
Josie Allan, Head of Policy & Partnerships at national charity, Missing People found that social media comments also played a part in shaming people and forcing families to stay silent about their missing person.
Josie said: “If you look at social media comments there is likely to be overt racism on reports of missing people in any type of social media coverage.
“It might be things around members of the public saying, ‘they probably got themselves in trouble ‘, or it might be judgements around the family, or the family haven’t done enough to protect them, or assuming that they’re a single parent household. A lot of the racist stereotypes that we see play out.”
One major cause of people not being reported missing, which Dominic believes isn’t spoken about, is the link between missing people and crime.
He believes that the connections between missing people and criminal exploitation are not a priority for the government despite the issues going hand in hand.
He said: “I don’t think ‘missing’ as a category is a priority for the government. Obviously, we all know about knife crime, we all know about county lines, we don’t hear a whole lot about missing people especially when some of it is connected to knife crime and county lines.
“The campaigns that politicians are running are not predicated on missing as a category.”
When parents know their child may be a victim of exploitation, this presents another hurdle when it comes to reporting them as missing as Josie says they fear their children will be seen as criminals before they are treated as victims.
She said: “We work with a lot of children who go missing because they’re being criminally exploited, often through things like county lines.
“The reality is that if a Black parent says, ‘oh, I’ve found drugs in his room recently or I know he’s started carrying a knife, or I’m worried about people he’s spending time with take part in criminal activity – there’s a very real chance that they’re child is more likely to be criminalised if they expose that.
“Whereas a white parent might feel more comfortable to expose that. Even with those factors around criminality, their child will be seen as a victim and they’ll get the support they need.
“If you don’t think the police are going to treat your child like that, why would you tell the police evidence for them to potentially use against your child.”
Missing people: Facts and Myths
Every year, 170,000 people vanish in the UK – that’s one person every 90 seconds. Fortunately, most return home within a few days, often without the need for a public appeal.
For adults over 18, going missing isn’t illegal, but the police will want to ensure their safety. If there are concerns for their welfare, a public appeal might be launched. Importantly, you don’t need to wait 24 hours to report someone missing. If their absence is unusual, contact the police immediately. Any child who goes missing will be looked for by police though they are not often given public facing appeals.
How the Missing People charity Supports Families
Missing People works closely with the police to amplify missing appeals and provide vital support to families. They offer practical help in searches and emotional support to those affected. If you need assistance or want to see your loved one’s appeal on the Missed map, call their Helpline on 116 000. It’s free, confidential and non-judgemental. They are also there to listen if you are thinking of disappearing or have already left.
The Role of Public Appeals
Not all missing cases are made public. In situations involving domestic abuse or severe mental health issues, publicity might do more harm than good. That is one reason why you will only see a fraction of missing cases on the Missed map.
When sharing appeals, it’s crucial to use the official channels from the Missing People website or via the share button on the Missed map. This ensures that once the person is found, all traces of the appeal are removed, respecting their privacy. The Mirror is committed to removing digital footprints of shared appeals, ensuring the missing person’s right to be forgotten is upheld.
By sharing official appeals, you help protect the privacy and dignity of those who have been found.
Overall, whether people stay silent about their missing family or friends out of distrust of the police, community judgement or fear of criminalisation, this dangerous silence means that mental health goes unaddressed, children continue to be exploited and the vicious cycle of criminality through county lines and knife crime ensues.
But ultimately, the one reason that missing people of ethnic minority backgrounds should matter is simply because they are human and deserve the same treatment as anyone else.
• The Mirror is using its platform to launch Missed – a campaign to shine a light on underrepresented public-facing missing persons in the UK via a live interactive map, in collaboration with Missing People Charity. Because every missing person, no matter their background or circumstances, is someone’s loved one. And they are always Missed.
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