People that vanish and don`t want to be found

[TheCheekySloth]

Just been watching a documentary about people that have vanished basically evaporated.
Some just up and left no warnings no fall outs no coming back.
Others left for other reasons, reasons some of us would think are silly.
But to just wake up walk out never come back.
No calls messages nothing they just evaporated.

This got me thinking does this happen more than we think, i dont know anyone that as done it.
Would you do it?
I dont know if i could as ive cut most out of my life, but to just evaporate is a different level.

Yes I would do it, if I knew I could access my money and wouldn’t be traceable.

I’m happy with my own company and really do t miss people if they aren’t around me.

It's an industry in Japan, helping people disappear. They do not have a database of missing persons over there either allegedly.

Yes it was japan, but also some British people have done it.

My neighbour’s Son just upped and left one day as a young adult, she and her Daughter were left wondering for 15 years ( his Dad died in that period) when he suddenly got in touch and said he would visit, he never turned up and she died a couple of years ago still wondering why the hell he did what he did.

If anyone reading this is affected, the charity Missing People can help families in this situation and can also support people who want to stay out of contact with family.

Sometimes we know people but we dont really know what goes on behind close doors.

What did they do? How did they set themselves up somewhere else? I’m intrigued

Some get new ID some work cash in hand.
But being in a digital world i think it would be quit hard to do now.
Mind boggling.

It's not that rare. Part of the reason the police are slow to search for missing adults, is it is not rare for people to want to escape an unhappy home life or reinvent themselves. The idea of walking away and not having to explain themselves is attractive. And it isn't illegal.

Which documentary is this?

Not so easy to disappear completely in the UK these days when you need ID checks for everything. But I suppose people can move away and start a new life under their own name and just not tell their family where they are.

This happened to a friend of mine. One of her adult children just disappeared for 5 years. They are back in touch now, but it must have been horrendous. I found it really difficult, given that my own son died. I find it hard to put into words.

@Doggielovecharlotte my ex did a vanishing act one day. Had a mental health crisis and ended up living rough on the streets for 18 months. Social services managed to get him help but it took a long time for him to be anywhere near normal. Now you wouldn't know he had previous problems. Has his own flat and a part time job.

"Johatsu review – poignant account of Japan’s ‘voluntarily disappeared’ | Film | The Guardian" https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/feb/24/johatsu-review-japan-documentary-into-thin-air#:~:text='Johatsu%E2%80%9D%20means%20evaporation%20in,past%20lives%20and%20their%20families.

Do not know if this is what OP saw, but this doc was 2024. Not sure where you would see it.

170k go missing each year in the UK. Mind boggling. The issue being what’s happened to them - have they been murdered, met an accidental death like fallen in water, run away. Must be horrific for family that never get closure.

That's true, but in many cases the people left behind have done absolutely nothing wrong. When you say you don't know what happens behind closed doors there's always a judgement there, as though the person who left wasn't being treated well.

also curious about the documentary, or any books that might be around on this topic

I read the one about John Darwin and that was fascinating, but there were obviously financial things there.

very interesting if Japan doesn't keep police files on this.

No judgment from me.
Maybe some dont feel they fit in with there familys.

Yes, I have been thinking about this situation since teenage years. Nobody would tell. 😊

There was a fascinating thread on MN a few years ago about this. Some of the stories were extraordinary, and one or two were downright creepy. The brother of the journalist A A Gill vanished one day. No one ever saw him again, I believe, and Gill died not knowing what had happened to him.

@notintheforest & @EmeraldRoulette
It was on youtube japans evaporated people after that i went on to other documentarys about the same thing.
It just got my attention that it dose happen.

I wonder if that thread is still around?
It sounds interesting.

Crikey I didn't know this!

I considered it a few years ago. I was deeply unhappy in life. It would have been pretty easy to either take a job abroad for a few years, or to just move somewhere else in UK. Yes police could have found me by updated records for tax/driving licence etc, but family and friends would not be able to.
The only reason I didn't was my adult kids.

170k go missing each year in the UK.

Is that missing permanently, or reported missing but turn up later?

And is it completely missing, or just that their family don't know where they are, but police/HMRC/DWP etc do know but can't say?