Abstract
Missing person appeals are a common feature of missing incidents across the world. In the case of large-scale disasters or man-made atrocities, spontaneous congregations of missing posters are frequently observed. In the UK missing person appeals are varied, regular, commonplace and innovative. They are conducted by the families and friends of missing people, by police forces and by the national charity, Missing People. This chapter will discuss the nature and scope of publicity appeals in the UK, the main methods used and recent developments and the extent of knowledge about their effectiveness. The chapter will also outline the main aims and perceived benefits of publicity appeals, as well as the potential risks, risk assessment and attempts to mitigate these. In order to address these issues, this chapter draws on published and unpublished literature as well as analysis of survey and interview data gathered by the charity, Missing People, and the Geographies of Missing People research project.
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Notes
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Families were eligible for inclusion if they had received a service from the charity in the previous calendar year and if they were not ruled out by certain inclusion criteria, such as the case having developed into a ‘no-body murder’ prosecution.
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More information on AMBER Alerts can be found at www.amberalert.gov.
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For example, an appeal might include information about a vehicle the missing person was believed to have travelled in, and it would be appropriate for an appeal to ask for people to report if they see or have seen the vehicle.
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Holmes, L. (2016). Missing Person Appeals: A UK Perspective. In: Morewitz, S., Sturdy Colls, C. (eds) Handbook of Missing Persons. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-40199-7_3
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