Missing People: The Research We Need

by Helen Gordon-Smith | Feb 21, 2025 | 0 comments

Following N8 PRP’s event on Missing Persons, Josie Allan and Jane Hunter from Missing People outline the research questions they think need attention from academia.

Missing People is a UK charity that works to reunite only UK charity that reunites missing children and adults with their loved ones. We offer support through our free, confidential, helpline and through specialist services. We work in partnership with every police force in the UK to support investigations and encourage good practice in the response to missing incidents. We conduct research with people with lived experience of going missing or reporting a loved one missing to better understand the drivers and risks that missing people face, and the response they receive from professionals, and try to influence changes in policy and practice to improve that response. In recent years we have explored a range of different issues linked to missing, including the experiences of:

Missing adults, with research into the harm they experience [missingpeople.org.uk], an APPG inquiry [missingpeople.org.uk] into the links with mental health, and the development of a framework [missingpeople.org.uk] for the response for those missing from hospitals and care settings.
Care-experienced children, with a series of ‘voices’ reports [missingpeople.org.uk] exploring young people’s views on their experiences of being reported missing, supported by the development of good practice tools [missingpeople.org.uk] for professionals.
Black missing people and their families, with research into how ethnicity impacts on experiences of missing [missingpeople.org.uk]; people’s experiences of discrimination [missingpeople.org.uk]; and the unique issues facing Black missing children. [missingpeople.org.uk]

Research questions to explore on issues affecting missing people and their families

Every year almost 170,000 adults and children are reported missing to the police in nearly 350,000 incidents. Going missing is a warning sign that someone is in crisis, or may be experiencing serious harm. The reasons why children and adults go missing are complex and myriad, but drivers can include exploitation, family breakdown, living in care, abuse, mental health issues, suicide and dementia.

The role of professionals in preventing missing episodes, and responding to the harm people experience while they are away, is vital in safeguarding, protecting and finding vulnerable people.

While there has been some incredibly interesting research into the issues affecting missing people, which has directly informed practice across the UK, the issue is still relatively under-researched. Missing episodes affect hundreds of thousands of people every year, as the impact on families and friends, as well as the missing person themselves can be profound. There are also significant implications for professionals, with police, social care, health, education, and a range of other sectors all playing a role in the response and therefore needing resources, training and guidance to act effectively. In light of this, it is vital that more research is undertaken to understand the risk factors driving missing episodes, the harm people experience while away, the support that can help to prevent missing episodes or help people who have been missing, and the professional responses to missing incidents.

There are some key issues that we have identified as significant gaps in our knowledge within our practice at the charity Missing People. We’re a national charity supporting people who are thinking about going missing, and those who are away, as well as families and other loved ones. We conduct research and try to influence improvements in the response to missing children and adults, so have a broad overview of the issues surrounding missing incidents, and the research that is (or sometimes isn’t) informing practice.

We hope that people within the research community might consider whether they could carry out projects to begin exploring some of these issues:

Violence against women and girls (VAWG)

Nationally there is an increasing focus on the epidemic of violence against women and girls. The Labour government have committed to halving VAWG, the National Police Chief’s Council have various specialist resources to support the police response, and numerous research projects are considering the drivers and impacts of gender-based violence. However, we know almost nothing about how VAWG is linked to people going missing.

Women are slightly less likely to go missing than men (43.5% compared to 54.5%) but the little evidence we have suggests that VAWG might be both a cause and a consequence of going missing:

VAWG could be a driver for people to go missing: One research project, published in 2003, found that 1 in 50[1] adults who had been reported missing left to escape violence. And while it’s important to remember that sexual exploitation can be committed against boys too, the evidence suggests that girls are more commonly victimised, and the links between exploitation and missing are well documented.
Women and girls can also experience violence while they are missing: in one survey, 1 in 3[2] returned missing people disclosed experiencing an unwelcome sexual approach or being assaulted sexually while they were missing.

While we have these few, basic statistics, they raise more questions than answers in terms of the impact of VAWG on missing people. To what extent does gender-based violence cause women and girls to go missing? And how many children go missing because of witnessing violence against their mother or other women in their homes? Are victims of VAWG more likely to go missing, even if an incident of violence isn’t the primary driver? Do women and girls experience different types of harm when they are missing? Do they need different support? How do we best support missing women when they are found if returning home would be unsafe?

Going missing is often a sign of crisis or underlying harm, so understanding how it relates to VAWG would help us to fight the epidemic of violence, while also allowing us to improve the response to missing people.

Missing from hospital

More than 20,000 incidents of someone ‘absconding’ or going missing from hospital are recorded each year[3]. In some cases this might be someone leaving A&E without signing out because they are tired of long waiting times, in others it might be a patient in acute mental health crisis who is leaving to take their own life. The reasons why people go missing are always complex, and they are likely even more so for people who are receiving medical care and perhaps are more vulnerable than at other times.

However, we know very little about these incidents. We don’t know which types of care or ward people are being reported missing from; we don’t know what drives these missing episodes; we don’t know whether people who have gone missing from hospital experience different types of harm compared to other missing people; and we don’t know what support people do or should receive when they return to a healthcare setting. There is very little guidance around good practice in preventing people from going missing from hospitals, and very little clarity about the roles and responsibilities of each safeguarding agency in response when they do.

Tragically, we do know that incidents of people going missing from hospital can result in the very worst outcomes. A review[4] of Prevention of Future Death Reports, (recommendations issued by Coroners following some inquests when they believe a change in professional responses could prevent similar deaths in the future), found 20 reports in just the last few years relating to people who had gone missing from hospital. Twenty deaths that were in some way considered preventable is too many. Research on this issue could help us to better understand the risks, and hopefully help to prevent similar cases in the future.

ADHD and the links with going missing

My colleagues on our helpline at Missing People have noticed a significant number of calls related to people who have ADHD and have gone missing. Colleagues in other organisations that work with missing children, have anecdotally shared similar observations.

It is unclear whether there is an increase in these incidents, or whether ADHD is better recognised (or perhaps wrongly identified?), or whether it has always been a persistent factor that us professionals are only just picking up on.

There is evidence of links between ADHD and a number of different issues that can cause people to go missing, including experiencing abuse or neglect, substance misuse, and exploitation. But there has been little research specifically into how having ADHD impacts on the risk of going missing, and whether it changes the harm that people experience, or support they need.

If people with ADHD are over-represented in missing incidents, it is vital we have clearer information about how to respond.

Veterans who go missing

Following a pilot by Greater Manchester Police, many police forces have adopted the Forcer Protocol, a relatively new tool used by the police to ensure key information is available to them when they are searching for service veterans who are lost or have gone missing when they return home.

This has raised interesting questions, including; whether veterans are more likely to go missing than other people; whether there are any differences in the nature of missing incidents when they do go missing; and, for those living with PTSD, whether specialist support is needed in investigations, or upon their return, in light of the disorder.

The introduction of the Forcer Protocol may provide new opportunities for research in this previously unexplored area, as there will be improved identification of missing people with a service history.

This is no way an exhaustive list of the gaps in knowledge around missing persons, they are just a few that we have identified through our recent work. We would welcome a conversation with any academics who are considering conducting research on other related issues.