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What happens when someone goes missing?

Toronto Police investigate the area where Elijah Marsh, the missing 3-year-old boy, was found without vital signs on February 19, 2015.
Toronto Police investigate the area where Elijah Marsh, the missing 3-year-old boy, was found without vital signs on February 19, 2015.

When 20-month-old Toronto toddler Elijah was reported missing in frigid weather earlier this year, a frantic and widespread search began immediately. He was in obvious danger; tragically, he later died.

When a child is suddenly gone, response by family members and authorities is swift. But what happens when a teenager or young adult goes missing, as happened this week when Asmaa Bana, 20, a graphic design student in Toronto, seemingly disappeared from her family for two days.

Is it time to hit the panic button or is it just a case of a young person needing some space?

There are protocols in place for these types of situations—which police deal with all the time.

The Vancouver Police Department handles between 3,000 and 4,000 missing persons reports every year, according to Const. Brian Montague, VPD’s media-relations officer.

“We average about 10 a day,” Montague says. “It’s a lot.”

Reports of missing persons are also frequent in Toronto.

“We get them daily,” says Const. Jenifferjit Sidhu, Toronto Police Service’s media-relations officer. “It’s a very common occurrence.”

A total of 41,035 missing children and youth reports were filed across Canada in 2013, according to the RCMP’s National Centre for Missing Persons and Unidentified Remains. Ontario had the most, with 14,362, followed by B.C., which had 6,931. The areas with the lowest numbers of reports that year were Nunavut Territory (0), Prince Edward Island (10), and Yukon Territory (13).

Of the missing children/youth reports filed, 65 per cent were removed within 24 hours, while 87 per cent were removed within a week. Youth aged 14 to 15 made up 43 per cent those reports.

No minimum amount of time required to file report

Both Montague and Sidhu emphasize that someone does not need to be missing for a certain period of time before he or she can be reported missing.

“I’d like to debunk the myth that someone has to be gone 24 or 48 hours before you can report someone’s gone missing,” Montague says. “There’s no such time frame. It doesn’t exist. In some cases if someone’s missing for 10 minutes it’s appropriate to pick up the phone and call 911 and report them missing.”

Sidhu notes: “People always assume there’s a time period. I think it might be from movies. If your child—anyone under the age of 18—goes missing and you’re worried or concerned about their safety, you can report it to police.

“If you’re concerned, if you don’t know the whereabouts of your child, they haven’t come home and you’ve tried contacting friends, all with negative results, you can call the police or walk into a police station, and a missing persons report will be put on file.”

What happens next when it comes to teenagers in particular depends on several factors, including police forces’ own policies and each case’s unique circumstances.

However, the two constables stress that all reports are investigated.

In Toronto, there are typically three levels of response. Resources are increased and response heightened as the levels increase.

Level 1 is when there are minimal concerns regarding foul play or the “infirmity or limitations of the missing person”.

Level 2 kicks in when the missing person is under 16 and not likely to be able to care for himself or has physical or mental challenges, or when there’s evidence of foul play.

Level 3 occurs when the previous two levels are ineffective or there are extenuating circumstances.

Typically, with every missing persons report the Toronto force receives, a release goes out to media outlets and its list of subscribers. Ideally, that release will include a recent photo.

“Anytime we take a report we would search the home, search the area, speak to people in the neighbourhood; we would need to speak to the last person who physically saw that person to get their description,” Sidhu says. |We’d get information like where they normally go, where they go to school, and who their friends are.”

The police would also look at the person’s social-media sites.

While every police force has its own procedures, Montague explains that when a missing person is a teenager, there are subtleties and nuances that come into play.

The case of someone who’s nearly 18 and considered street-smart may not be handled the same way as that of a 13-year-old who’s not that mature, for example. In some cases, the teen has been reported missing once or more times before. Sometimes, broadcasting details about the situation can make matters worse.


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“In some cases, there would be a public appeal, but in a lot of cases, providing a photograph and personal details publicly through the media sometimes creates more problems than it solves, especially with a teenager; it can become stressful, traumatic, or embarrassing,” Montague says. “These are all the things we have to think about….If there are mental-health issues, that’s obviously a concern. We would not put out that information publicly.

“There are lots of possible and scenarios and variables, and we have to look at each and every case and look at what best course of action is,” he adds. “I wish it was as straightforward as ‘in case of fire, break glass.’ I wish it were that simple.”

Sidhu notes that it’s not uncommon to see the number of missing youth reports increase slightly over school holidays or long weekends.

“If a kid is 17-and-a-half and had an argument with their parents because they wanted to go to a party or to Montreal for weekend and their parents said no, they may have packed up and gone to Montreal for the weekend,” she says. “However, we do investigate them. Every case is taken seriously. Then when the weekend is over the kids come home.”

Sidhu and Montague both stress that if, as a parent or guardian, you’re worried about your teen’s safety or whereabouts, then call police.

“You know who your child is, and if you’ve exhausted every method, place a report,” Sidhu says.

Montague notes: “Parents know their child. When in doubt, pick up the phone and call. That’s what the police are there for. We’d much rather intervene earlier than later… Parents sometimes just need an outside perspective to figure out where their child has gone or where they could be. Usually they end up at a friend’s place, or they may leave the house but still gone to school. If you’re concerned at all, call.”