About Us

The Missing Persons Information Hub (MPIH) brings together everyone who cares about missing people, including:

  • researchers
  • charities
  • police
  • social workers and care providers
  • people who are (or have been) missing
  • people who are (or have experienced) looking for someone who’s missing

This website provides links to useful information and services to enable our network to connect and share knowledge and experience.

Comments from parents of missing persons

‘I have just had a good look through the new website and am hugely impressed. It looks well organised, with clear information that is easily navigable and looks superb to me, representing a good step forwards with the issue.

Thank you so much for the obvious work that has gone into constructing this, it seems to me that many people will be helped by the information there, not least because it is in one place.’

Kevin Gosden (father of Andrew Gosden, missing since 2007).

‘I have just read through the pages of the site and want to express my appreciation for such an excellent resource. I just wish something like this had been available in 1992 when my son went missing. I hope as many people and organisations involved with ‘missing’ get to know about and make use of your site.
Best regards’
Sarah Godwin (mother of missing son Quentin and Trustee at Missing People).

It is not the purpose of this site to provide direct help or support, that is the responsibility of the police, social care, health, and relevant NGOs that can be found here.

International Context

This is a UK-based resource but has an international context and we encourage individuals and organisations to share their knowledge and experience here for the benefit of all. While some of the responses relate to the UK, the same principles apply anywhere but contact should be made with organisations in the relevant country.  Relevant documents and organisations can be found all over the world and are included on this site and can be applicable anywhere. Where they exist, we have tried to include local responses to missing persons.

Acknowledgments

The inspiration for this website came from Val Nettles, whose son Damien went missing in 1996, a mystery that, to date, has never been solved. She has had to live without knowing what happened to him, always with the hope that there will be an explanation. She is not alone in experiencing such a tragedy, as thousands of similar cases are unresolved.

The issue of missing persons is not always given the recognition it deserves and for the uninitiated, those experiencing the loss of someone dear to them for the first time and even for professionals, it is a difficult place to navigate and find information.  It is due to the foregoing reasons that Charlie Hedges decided to create the Missing Persons Information Hub, which is intended to make all of this easier.

Its development does not have any funding and everyone who has contributed and assisted in its development has done so without reward and because they believe in the need to make things better.

Nicola Fox, from the University of Manchester, has devoted many hours of her time helping to develop the website and its library.

Matt Sessions, from the University of Central Lancashire, has been of great assistance in assisting with IT development.

Dr Susan Giles, from the University of Liverpool, developed and facilitated the Insight Study that enabled consultation to inform the development of the MPIH.

Dr Karen Shalev-Greene, from the University of Portsmouth, who developed the Centre of Missing Persons Studies at the university and enabled the transfer of the library of missing person related documents to MPIH. Thanks also to the University for donating this library.

The steering group that has helped and guided the development of the website includes the above persons, plus:

Alan Rhees- Cooper National Police Chiefs Council

Louise Newell – UK Missing Persons Unit

Lucy Turner – UK Missing Persons Unit

Susanna Drury – Missing People

Dave Grimstead – Locate International

Tanja Conway-Grim

Dr Penny Woolnough – University of Abertay

Sarah Nettles -Damien ‘s sister

Dr Freya O’Brien – Liverpool John Moores University