How to Write a Missing Persons Police Report
The National Crime Information Center (NCIC) is a federal clearinghouse for data on missing persons around the United States. The NCIC received more than 814,000 missing persons reports in 2007 alone, with 299,787 cited as runaway children and teenagers. Since police officers rely on the public to offer information, the missing persons police report serves as the best tool for finding the 109,229 still missing according to NCIC records. Every person with a lost child, spouse or neighbor should fill out a missing persons police report as quickly and accurately as possible to speed up investigations.
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Instructions
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Request a missing persons report from your local police precinct. Start this form by completing basic contact information including your phone number, your relationship to the missing person and your address. Include any nicknames or shortened versions of names in the report to simplify identification of the missing person.
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Describe the missing person's physical appearance at the time of the disappearance. Estimate height and weight to create a physical profile for police investigators. Add information about eye color, hair color and unique scars or marks that would make the missing person easier to find.
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Offer details on clothing, jewelry and accessories that the missing person was wearing at the time of disappearance. Your report should include the make, model and color of the person's vehicle as well as a description of bags, backpacks and purses that were with the missing person.
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Finish the section on loss details carefully to create a consistent story for the police. Inform the police of the last location where you saw the person, the circumstances of your last conversation, the time of day and the weather when the loss occurred.
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Produce a time line of events going back to 24 hours before the person in question went missing. Include mundane details about sleep, work, exercise and eating to help investigators eliminate risk factors for possible abductions and runaways.
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Assist police in dealing with disoriented and injured missing persons by including health details in your report. List all medications, past medical conditions and psychological issues for the missing person in your report. Highlight special needs for children and young adults who have gone missing as police officers may call in special needs specialists to help with the investigation.
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Attach an extended personal history of the missing person to help rule out foul play. Focus on details about inheritances, job problems, bad habits and personal relationships that may have a bearing in the case.
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Conduct your own campaign to find a missing person by creating posters and going door-to-door. Print off simple posters with a photo of the missing person along with a contact phone for any information. Reach out to your neighbors to keep an eye out for the missing person.
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Tips & Warnings
Check your state's Department of Justice website as well as the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children for examples of missing person reports. These websites maintain databases of filed reports that have helped police officers and investigators find missing people. You can use these databases to point out patterns of disappearances in your area, which may help police find your missing person.
Complete a missing persons report immediately to narrow the search area for local police. Parents and loved ones who wait hours to complete these reports are increasing the search area for police. A prolonged reporting period means that police have to cover a larger area to find the missing person, thereby decreasing their odds of locating the person.
Resources
- Photo Credit Photo by Chris (Flickr)
