In the US more than 1700 people are reported missin
each day. Both Children and adults. The good news, most
of them, about 70% are found or returned within a few
days. In 2020 police agencies logged more than 543,0
cases of missing people. 480,000 were canceled or
cleared, but thousands never returned home. Found in
the Illinois River on September four was the missing
graduate student. Many people falsely believe we have
to wait 24-48 hours to report someone missing, but
investigators say the sooner someone is reported
missing, the higher chances they will be found. That's
because the 1st 48-72 hours in a missing persons case
are the most crucial. Here's why the person could be in
danger or maybe on the move to a new location for those
who may be more vulnerable like people with men
illness. Police want to alert the public for help
Regardless of any situation. If your, if your 15 year
old is missing, you're going to be upset and you're
going to be wanting everybody to be on the lookout For
kids. There's the Amber alert named for nine year old
Amber Hagerman kidnapped while riding her bike in
Arlington Texas. The alert system in her name was
created in 1996. Today, law enforcement agencies may
issue an alert if the person is younger than 17 and
they are believed to be abducted or in great danger. We
got her. We got her. We got her, Come on sweetheart. Mm
hmm. Okay, you're going to be okay. Amber alerts are
issued for kids who run away from home. Law enforcement
doesn't want to desensitize the public by issuing too
many alerts. Not all missing persons cases are crimi
Some people leave voluntarily. Mental illness,
depression, abusive relationshi or fights and
financial problems could all be reasons why someone
disappears on their own. The longer a person remains
missing, the greater the opportunity for important
clues to disappear When someone goes missing, law
enforcement needs to focus on learning about the
person's routine. They may look for foul play. They
focused on finding out who last had contact with the
missing person, including their latest conversations
and the person's state of mind. She would always call.
We would always be in contact with one another. But I
hadn't heard from her by uh, sunday. So I started to
get, you know, a little bit nervous not having heard
from her at all. The whole, entire weekend,
investigators will look for significant items belonging
to the missing person like house or car keys, a
cellphone purse or wallet. If the items were left
behind, it might indicate the situation was unplanned
or sudden you see these things in the TVs and movies,
but you wouldn't think it hit close to home for adults.
One of the things most looked at his finances,
investigators try to see if the missing persons money
is untouched, meaning have they withdrawn Large amounts
of cash. Have they used their credit cards They'll also
see if they've left behind critical personal record
like a birth certificate or Social Security card. If
the items aren't missing. This may show the individual
didn't go away voluntarily. I want to show you where
Kaya scar was found in the 1st 48 hours of someone
reported missing. Investigators also rushed to gather
electronic information, social media postings, web
searches, cellphone data and video or audio recordings
from the area capturing details of their home life are
asking friends and family about their interactions. May
help. In some cases, the investigating agency will a
other agencies to help in their search. We have
investigators working diligentl around the clock as
well as with the FBI. It might even ask for help from
the community. We're still asking the public please
help us bring my sister home media coverage can also
make a difference. However, of the thousands of
americans that go missing each year, only a fraction
gained widespread attention. I would like to thank
everybody for the help. Well, I appreciate a lot. If
you all get my kids home, according to a national
missing and unidentified persons system study missing
women received nearly 12 times more media coverage than
men. White missing people received nearly three times
more than minorities. Jamal Andrews, Newsy