how many missing people do you know of in real life?

[notnowmarmaduke]

Just wondered - we are always saying how common it is, but how many of us know many missing people? Of course you might be closely associated with a missing person and not know it, as people don't necessarily talk about it, or might just not know themselves.

I have only known two people reported as missing, long term. one friends father, who was the classic went out for a pint of milk and was never seen again. ( 30+ years now). One runaway teen never found (15+ years)

Apart from that I have known a few runaway teens who were found, and two people reported as missing who I know went into witness protection

Also, have you ever been reported missing?

One.
An acquaintance I met whilst living in Austria. Young man in his late 20’s went missing without a trace and it has been over 10 years now.
Find myself looking him up every now and again to see if there has been any breakthrough but sadly nothing

or that he went into witness protection?

I thought none when I read your op @notnowmarmaduke but now realise it's actually one. I don't know the person, they are a friend of a friend, and the missing person disappeared off a boat a few years ago now, presumed murdered by their partner, and no sighting of them since.

A girl I went to school with thirty years ago has supposedly been missing for twenty years. But I don't know whether she is really missing, because her family are not looking for her. I don't mean that in a sinister way - she was in another country when she and her son went missing. It is more that I wonder if they know she is okay and has reason to disappear. Online information naming her disappears too.

God, some of these are so sad.

I knew one person well who was missing and later was found to have been murdered. It was a very high profile case. Other than that I don’t know anyone who has been missing.

I am so sorry @Orinocogrande

This is a very sad thread. I remember a similar one some time back in which one of the posters explained they deliberately went missing & still were.

Quite a few due to my job but in my personal life four.

One from secondary school who was 12 and they suspect was groomed.

A guy who I went to school with but he disappeared as an adult. Looks like he just upped and left while at work and disappeared into the crowds.

One of my dc friends who was 17. Last spotted on a coast path nearby.

A friends mum who disappeared when we were children. She went to the shop and never returned.

That must be very hard, I hope you get closure one day.

I've known 2, sadly both found dead some time later. Sad as it is I think the closure is better than always wondering what happened.

Not formerly reported yet, but my father's brother. He didn't even attend his own father's funeral in 2009. My dad went to his last known address but another family was living there amd claimed no such person ever lived there.

Yes, two! Both knew each other, and both disappeared around a similar time - about 2/3 days difference. Very, very out of character for one (not sure about the other but was met with similar confusion). Never heard from again; no money moved that anyone was aware of, phones off, everyone completely bemused. Both just vanished into thin air. Also a strange quietness regarding police involvement/ media. Been missing a few years now, and not a hint from either of them. I hope wherever they are they are ok, although I sadly suspect not.

Just the one - a lad I was at school with disappeared about 30 years ago.

One. It was some decades ago now though, and I didn't know her very well. People thought she was in an abusive relationship and she was almost never allowed out, but she did come to the baby & toddler group. Then one day she wasn't there and I remember overhearing some other people talking, saying that she'd just disappeared and they didn't know where she'd gone. I think they tried to find out, but I never heard any more after that.

Makes you wonder, doesn't it?

A child. That’s so sad

A guy I went to school with. We weren't close. He was missing for a year or two before being found dead. Rest in peace young man, I hope your troubles have eased.

Three. None found. One lost backpacking, another was a neighbour who went out one day and never came back, but his car mysteriously turned up a couple of years later in a car park and the third presumed drowned.

Arlene Fraser?

Not known personally but missing lad from my area, been publicised lots. Friend works in child protection services, who suspected that he’d been trafficked based on “evidence” multiple arrests but no charges

totally and utterly heartbreaking

also friends cousin went missing 40 years ago, just left and never came back. Family were devastated, spent thousands on private investigators, never been a trace found

One. My godmother. It made the news so I won’t provide any other details but the reverberations of her disappearance have continued in her family for decades.

Friend at university went missing for many months. Absolutely awful not knowing where he was, cannot imagine what his family must have gone through.

He was pulled out of the river, and is considered to be a potential victim of a serial killer.

There are sadly a few unsolved missing cases locally to me. Two women missing, one with their child, both suspected to be murdered by their husbands but bodies never found. Both are high profile cases.

There is a young man missing locally too, he went hillwalking and sadly never returned home. His wife has given birth to their child since his disappearance which is so sad. There have been extensive searches but nothing found, many believe he must have fallen/taken unwell and died on the mountains sadly.

I also know of a young fisherman that disappeared in a storm one night. He is presumed dead and there is a local memorial for him but no body has ever been found. I believe the wreckage of his boat was discovered later.

all very sad. Shows how it can happen to anyone.

Not local but I often think of the young soldier that went missing on a night out. They believe he crawled into a bin for a sleep and was picked up by the bin lorry and killed then dumped in the landfill. They never found his body but the case stuck with me. I remember his family searching the landfill for his remains. It breaks my heart!

A small child who fell into a flooded river near me, they've searched for ages but no trace of him. Every time we walk the dog that way I look, half in hope, half in dread

I am lucky enough not to know of any. It's so heartbreaking for their loved ones, I can't imagine how they cope with it.