When someone is identified as missing and it is deemed to be an emergency you should always dial 999. If someone has gone missing and it is not deemed an emergency then you should call 101. Alternatively you can report missing persons by going to your local police station and informing a police officer.
Once a police officer has taken a report from you about the missing person they will enter all of the information you provide onto a computer at the police station that circulates the person as ‘missing’ on the Police National Computer, so that any police officer in the UK or abroad can contact officers in your local area.
Immediate enquiries into a missing person will be undertaken by an initial investigating officer who will try to find the missing person as soon as possible. If the person is still not found then the investigation will be passed on to another officer at the station who will deal with all further enquiries.
To have the best chance of finding a missing person quickly police officers will need to know a number of details about them, these can include:
- Details of friends or relatives
- Social media accounts and sites they may visit
- Places that the missing person is known to frequent
- Health or medical conditions that they may suffer from
- Financial account details (such as bank account, credit and debit card details)
- Details on any benefits that they may receive, and the location of where they may collect them from
- A number of recent photographs
- Events that could be linked with their disappearance
- DNA sample for subsequent forensic examination [i.e. toothbrush]