Investigating disappeared individuals can be distressing, challenging and dangerous. Some cases involve searching in mass graves or seeing bodies that have been subjected to torture. This can be extremely traumatizing for journalists and their families.
광주흥신소North American Investigations has helped clients find children, lost loves and relatives from upwards of fifty years ago. Here are a few tips on how to track down the missing.
1. Check Social Media
Millions of people disappear every year and organized crime often plays a role in these cases. This criminal activity can involve drug trafficking, wildlife smuggling, resource theft, and human trafficking.
It is important to check social media and public information. A person’s online footprint is an amber alert to those who know them and can be useful in finding missing individuals. 광주흥신소
Make sure that any accounts have not been made private and use image search tools to scan through images. This is a process known as skip tracing and is a technique that collections agencies, bounty hunters, and law enforcement use to find missing individuals. Keeping records and notes on all lines of enquiry is essential during this stage. It is also good to get the media involved, as this can create awareness across a much wider geographic area in a shorter timeframe.
2. Drive Around Your Local Area
If you know where your missing loved one lives, you can drive around your community and post flyers with a picture of them at places they frequent. You can also check sites like Craigslist for ads that are posted to help people 광주흥신소 find others.
It is important to file a police report as soon as possible. This will help police locate the person quickly. It is also a good idea to provide DNA samples through a swab of the inside of your cheek.
You can also contact local TV stations and get them involved in the search. This will create awareness across a much wider area in a shorter amount of time. You can even hire a private investigator to conduct a more thorough search for the individual.
3. Get the Media Involved
Although it may be difficult to deal with media attention, letting people know a missing person is out there can help keep the search active. In addition, it is often necessary to publish information in order to catch criminals who are trying to hide evidence of their crimes.
However, national news outlets tend to give disproportionate amounts of coverage to the disappearances of young white women who are attractive. This can negatively impact the perception of the public toward missing persons of color who receive minimal coverage.
It is a good idea to review all media events, comments and tapes in case they contain clues that could lead police to identify suspects. This can be done in person with law enforcement, or through a third party like a lawyer or private investigator.
4. Check Financial Transactions
Even if the person has used a PO Box or mail-forwarding service to conceal their physical address, it is possible to track their whereabouts from their financial transactions. In addition, if they registered to vote, their name, social security number and date of birth are public information that can be obtained through a search.
If they are a business owner, there is a good chance their books and records are being kept at the place of their operation. Checking these records can be done through a local private investigator or by making requests to their company under legal subpoena signed off by a judge. Also, checking their bank accounts and credit cards can be a great way to build a timeline of their activities.
5. Contact Local Hospitals and Clinics
If you suspect that a missing person is in the hospital, contact local hospitals and clinics in your area. This will ensure that your loved one is properly searched and that the police are aware of their disappearance.
During the pandemic, this process is especially important. Write down every hospital and emergency room within a reasonable distance, and ask for the name of their admissions point of contact. Ask them if they have received any Jane or John Does in the last XYZ time period.
This process may be slow, but it is essential to report your loved ones as soon as possible. This allows law enforcement to focus their resources on the case and increase the likelihood of finding them quickly. It also helps police interview eyewitnesses while they are still fresh in memory.
6. Check Local Prisons and Jails
Millions of people disappear every year and organized crime plays a role in many of these cases. This criminal activity often involves drug trafficking, wildlife smuggling, resource theft, and human trafficking.
In the United States alone, there are over 1,500 county jails and 2,800 state prisons. These facilities house people who have been arrested for more serious crimes than a simple traffic ticket or DUI.
Visiting local jails and prisons is an excellent way to track down missing individuals. You can also check the country’s database of previous prisoners, but this can be a lengthy process.
7. Contact Law Enforcement
Most missing person cases are solved within a few days or weeks. However, some disappearances go on for months or even years. In order to keep the case active and relevant, it’s important that family members and friends of the missing person contact local law enforcement authorities regularly.
Ask for the agency’s case number. It will allow you to better refer back to the case in the future. Also, make sure that the missing person’s name has been entered into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database.
The NCIC is a public-private system that allows law enforcement agencies to share information on missing persons with each other. It is used for tracing victims of kidnapping and other crimes in both domestic and international contexts.