Lorna Ferguson and Aiden Sidebottom (2022, UK and Canada).

“This article provides an overview of what is known about policing and missing persons, focusing primarily on Canada and the United Kingdom (UK), where most research studies originate. It begins by discussing how missing persons are defined and describing some of the key patterns and trends observed in the missing persons literature. These patterns relate to age, sex/gender, race/ethnicity, repeats, and harms. This is followed by a description of the typical police response to and investigation of missing person incidents, drawing mainly on the experiences of the Canadian police. Finally, some of the enduring challenges in this area of policing are highlighted and some ways in which these challenges might fruitfully be addressed in future research are set out.”

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