10 Steps on How to Look For Missing People
There is always someone that everyone wishes to see again. It could be that the person went missing or simply didn’t want to be found. Sometimes, it could be just the thought of a loved one, friend, or family member going missing, and you are terrified. Whatever the situation, knowing the various ways or steps to find someone, especially if they have a phone on them, is important. This article explores the various steps on how to find a missing person and other things you should know.
Step 1: Search by Phone Number
The first thing your instincts tell you to do when searching for a missing person is to contact them on the phone if you have their cell number. You could try this out and wait for a response within some reasonable minutes or hours. If you cannot reach them, i.e., no response to texts or calls, you may just have to locate them using phone records.
You can obtain cellphone data and any other detail that could be used to locate them. Here, you could find out who had been in contact with the person before they went missing. You might even be lucky to find their last cell location.
Step 2: Reach Out to Friends and Acquaintances
If you have the contact information of their friends, you should reach out to them. There could be something that their friends know that you don’t. As a matter of fact, they might possibly know where the person has gone or the last person they made contact with. In most cases, this method helps.
If the missing individual has acquaintances, you can also contact them too. You can visit their workplace and report to their employees, co-workers, doctors, or even neighbors. Someone might have a clue of where they could be or describe their behaviour before they went missing. There is nothing wrong with inviting more people, especially friends and family members, to the search party.
Step 3: Report to the Right Authorities
If you’ve tried out the missing persons search with phone numbers and friends/acquaintances, the next part is definitely important – reporting to law enforcement agencies. There is no specific time before you can file a missing person report. And as a matter of fact, the earlier you notify the local authorities, the higher the chances of finding them because the search begins immediately.
There are three ways to go about reporting to the authorities:
The Police Department
Even though there are limits to what the police can do in the case of a missing person, filing a report is still a good call. You should visit a local police station and report the situation. You will be asked to provide certain information that can be used to find the person – mostly their physical looks and their last known location. So, before going to file the report, you should have the following ready:
- The person’s birth certificate and recent photos;
- Aliases and nicknames;
- Physical description, such as height, weight, eye color, age, hair color;
- List of unique scars, tattoos, or identifiable features;
- Medication usage or prescriptions;
- The last known address and connected friends or acquaintances;
- The person’s favorite spot;
- Statement surrounding the individual’s disappearance.
And while the police go to work with the information you’ve provided, you should also keep a record just in case you need to refer to it some other time.
The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
If you’ve reported to the police, you can also make the search more effective by reporting to the US Department of Justice. This office operates The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs). The roles and responsibilities of the NamUs are to allow you to upload whatever information about someone missing so that people, including law enforcement officials, can use it to find them. That means such a person’s info will be available on public records so that other people can easily access it. In short, the NamUs help in expanding the search party.
Register with Missing Persons Database
There is nothing wrong with trying other means apart from the police and the Department of Justice. One of the best methods is to register with a Missing Persons Database. These websites or platforms have been designed to help find missing individuals using certain features/characteristics. And as a matter of fact, you may get the services of these platforms for free.
The top Missing Persons Database are;
- The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children: offers free services for families or parents with missing kids.
- The National Alliance on Mental Illness: offers free services for families or parents of missing individuals with mental illnesses.
Step 4: Check Local Hospitals
What if the person isn’t exactly missing but has been injured and admitted to a hospital? One of the most effective ways to find missing people is by checking local hospitals or clinics. The person you are looking for may have been in an accident and cannot contact family members.
You should check out these hospitals or clinics with identifying information such as name, complexion, hair, or eye color. And if you don’t have their name, you can use the “John Doe” search. That means asking the hospital if any unrecognized person has been admitted. You can do this with the help of the police.
Step 5: Search Local Prisons or Jails
When you search for missing persons, you should consider the possibility that they may have been arrested and spending time in prison or jail. There is nothing you should underestimate. The person in question may have been arrested for something the police consider illegal or against the law. So, one of the things that should cross your mind is to search local prisons or jails to see if they are incarcerated. Visit your local police department with every information about them and let them do what they do best – check through records and confirm if anyone has those specific details.
Step 6: Find Them on Social Media
Social media is a big place, and you will be surprised about what you can find on it. In fact, you can look up a missing person on various social platforms, as long as you have their name, username, or anything else that can be used to identify them. You can go through their social pages and see their activity, photos, or a friends list. You can also check their comments – you may find a clue to where they’ve been invited or if they have been threatened. On social media, everything should be considered a clue.
Step 7: Check App Data
The best way to trace a missing person is to check their app data. The reason is that most people go everywhere with their smartphones, and it records places they’ve been to. The App Data provides this information about the various places visited prior to the time a person went missing. You can check and use whatever you find to locate the person.
However, to find a person using App Data, you must have access to their passwords or login details. If you have access, proceed to the app and check their recorded history. If you don’t, the police could help contact the app providers for this information.
Step 8: Find My Phone App
For someone with a smartphone before going missing, you can find them using the Find My Phone App. This app is available on Google for Androids (Find My Device) and Apple for iPhones (as Find My iPhone). It will help you find where a device currently is in a bid to locate a missing person. However, you must access the person’s account to use this method. If you don’t, you can contact the police or get a court order to access this information that can be used to find the person.
Step 9: Create a Website
If you’ve used social media already, you can use an additional method to find a missing individual – creating a website. By creating the website, you can easily send your message across. However, there is a format you should follow so people can understand the situation. For instance, you can use a website heading like “Find Cole John” or “Missing Cole John.” And while you use a heading like this, you should also upload the person’s most recent picture and any specific detail, including if the person has a mental health condition.
Step 10: Get the Media Involved
Finally, when looking for missing person, the media should be at your disposal. You should utilize the media as much as you use other channels. The reason is that the media has a wider coverage and can help you get more people in search of the person. In fact, you could start getting reports about places the person was before their disappearance.
How Can Radaris Help?
People going missing is never a good experience. Finding such a person often requires a lot of time and resources. However, if the situation ever occurs, you should use different tools, many of them online, including Radaris.com.
This website is an extraordinary platform that can help to find people online. All you have to do is enter the person’s details and get their place of residence, phone numbers, social media accounts, and mentions of them in the news for further verification. You may even find something useful that you could present to the police to help with the search.
Conclusion
People don’t just vanish off without a trail. There is always a clue around, even if it may be little or inconsequential. So, if a person disappears with or without a phone, you may still be able to find them using any of the methods described above. More importantly, it would be best if you considered using Radaris, as it offers the best people search and provides good information about individuals based on their internet activity.
FAQ
Do I Need a Private Investigator to Find a Missing Person?
If someone goes missing, their family members might want to hire a private investigator to help with the search. It is also a good idea because these professionals are skilled in finding people or their information using all resources. However, they come at a cost – pay them, and they start searching.
