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Must a "Missing Person" involve foul play?

  • 18-11-2017 9:12pm
    #1
    BottleOfSmoke
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 83 ✭✭


    To report a missing person (adult) to the police, is it necessary that the disappearance is involuntary?
    This is the scenario: the adult became estranged from family in the 1980s, and has not contacted them since. There is no reason to think this is anything but the person's own decision. The next-of-kin was a child when the person disappeared, and would like to know if the person is alive or dead.
    Is it an option to go to a Garda Station and report a missing person? Would the police take any interest if there is no question of foul play?


Comments

  • #2
    Victor
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 78,580 ✭✭✭✭Victor


    BottleOfSmoke wrote: »
    To report a missing person (adult) to the police, is it necessary that the disappearance is involuntary?
    No. With a missing person, one normally doesn't know why they are missing. Many missing people are either caught up in their own life or avoiding family, but a proportion have disappeared involuntarily or are deceased.
    This is the scenario: the adult became estranged from family in the 1980s, and has not contacted them since. There is no reason to think this is anything but the person's own decision. The next-of-kin was a child when the person disappeared, and would like to know if the person is alive or dead.
    I think it would be difficult to treat this as a missing person's case and the person would have been expected to have exhausted all normal means of trying to find the person.
    Is it an option to go to a Garda Station and report a missing person? Would the police take any interest if there is no question of foul play?
    A better initial option may be to hire a solicitor and/or a private investigator.


  • #3
    coylemj
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 25,624 ✭✭✭✭coylemj


    BottleOfSmoke wrote: »
    There is no reason to think this is anything but the person's own decision.

    That fact alone means the Garda will not be interested. It's considered a private (family) matter, no police action required.

    Realistically, what can they do? You have no idea where the person now lives or even what they now look like after 30 years. Sorry but the police in most countries would have no interest in helping to track someone down in these circumstances.

    As Victor has advised, a private investigator is the way to go, I'm not sure how a solicitor could help given that there appears to be no legal matters outstanding.


  • #4
    BottleOfSmoke
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 83 ✭✭BottleOfSmoke


    coylemj wrote: »
    That fact alone means the Garda will not be interested. It's considered a private (family) matter, no police action required.

    Realistically, what can they do? You have no idea where the person now lives or even what they now look like after 30 years. Sorry but the police in most countries would have no interest in helping to track someone down in these circumstances.

    As Victor has advised, a private investigator is the way to go, I'm not sure how a solicitor could help given that there appears to be no legal matters outstanding.

    Thank you for replying. Just to answer your question as to what the gardai can do, I would assume that if there was a question of foul play even long ago, then they would follow the social welfare trail, tax/pensions etc.
    However, I can see why they would not allocate resources in the scenario that I described.


  • #5
    CIARAN_BOYLE
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 14,599 ✭✭✭✭CIARAN_BOYLE


    coylemj wrote: »
    As Victor has advised, a private investigator is the way to go, I'm not sure how a solicitor could help given that there appears to be no legal matters outstanding.

    I would imagine that the solicitor would be a middle man. A solicitor may regularly work with a private investigator and be able to refer one to you. If you regularly deal with a solicitor you may like to use them as a trusted middleman in selecting a private investigator.


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