5,000 people ‘missing’ in seven years, 800 still untraced
The police have handled just over 5,000 missing person reports in the last seven years and almost 800 of them have still not been officially found, with another 43 found dead.
Half of the reports involved minors under the age of 18 while 186 were of seniors, according to figures obtained by the police.
Of the 5,007 missing persons reports received by the police since 2016, 1,735 were foreigners.
The majority of people who were reported missing to the police either returned home or were found.
However, 794 are still missing ‘on paper’, many just want to disappear and most of them probably left the island without a trace.
Police Superintendent Johann Fenech, from the vice squad, explained that the main reason why people “lose” is because they need a “break from their lives”, often due to issues with relatives or personal problems. This is especially the case with young people.
“We treat these cases as urgent because minors are considered vulnerable. It often turns out that they were facing a family member and want to make a point,” he said, while adding that some young people are often reported missing several times.
This was the case of 17-year-old Doaa Kasem who was still unknown since she was reported missing on June 16 of this year. Kasem, who sources said was living in residential care, was last seen in Santa Venera.
A race against time
Fenech explains that when a person is reported missing it is a race against time and action must be taken immediately. Usually, the person is reported missing at a nearby police station and district police officers start handling the case.
The vice squad is brought in when minors or vulnerable persons are involved.
The police start by doing background checks from their database to see if the missing person has ever filed a report before or if a report has ever been filed against them.
Officers then speak to close relatives and friends to identify commonly frequented areas, which are then searched.
If the person is not found, the police then move on to technical searches: with the support of mobile phone service providers, they establish the place where the person last made a call or received or sent a message. This gives an approximation of where the phone is located.
Then they look for CCTV cameras in the area and enlist the help of drones and sniffer dogs.
If nothing is found, they issue what is known as a C-circular in the media with the person’s photo and a description of where they were last seen and what they were wearing. In a recent development, the same information is now displayed on the screens of private ATMs.
Often, the response is immediate
“Many times, the response is immediate. We get a call from the missing person who says they just wanted to spend some time alone. We also get people calling saying they saw the missing person.
“Sometimes, they are right but sometimes they are wrong,” said Fenech, adding that there was a time during the Madeleine McCann case when people reported seeing her in Malta.
In a case that made international headlines for several years, McCann, an English child, disappeared on the evening of 3 May 2007 from her bed in a holiday apartment in a resort in Portugal.
“On one occasion, we checked CCTV footage and we saw that there was someone who looked like her,” said Fenech, stressing that anyone who believes they have information about a missing person should call the police immediately as “time is of the essence.” “. Their anonymity will be protected, he added.
While the majority of missing people are found before circular C is issued in the media, this is not the case for everyone: “Some do not want to be found.”
In these cases, they remain listed as “missing” in police files. It is difficult for the police to know if a missing person has left the island, especially in the case of foreigners, the official said.
Recently the police have been criticized regarding the case of Nicholas Camilleri, who was found dead by his son in June in a dilapidated building in Għajn Tuffieħa after a fruitless search by the police and the army which included dogs and a helicopter.
Fenech defended the action of the police in the case: “Malta may be small but it can be huge during a search. In the case of Nicholas Camilleri, the district police worked hard and used drones and dogs. They had found his car in Għajn Tuffeħa and searched the rooms there… but sometimes it is a matter of time,” he said, adding that every second counted.
This was especially the case for the elderly reported missing after wandering from home or care facility, often due to mental health or medical issues. This is what happened in
the case of dementia patient Carmelo Fino, 83 years old, who left San Vincenzo de Paul and was reported missing on June 28. He is also still missing as well as Salvu Bonnici, a 70-year-old man from Gudja, who has been missing since then. July 1st.
Any information about missing persons can be sent to 2122 4001, 119, or to any police station.
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