Missing Persons

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asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many boys and how many girls of each age up to 18 years were reported missing in the county of Leicester in each month of the last five years for which records are available; how many and what percentage were missing from their own homes and how many and what percentage from care; and how many and what percentage were traced and after what period of search;(2) how many boys and how many girls of each age up to 18 years were reported missing in Greater London in each month of the last five years for which records are available; how many and what percentage were missing from their own homes and how many and what percentage from care; and how many and what percentage were traced and after what average period of search;(3) how many boys and how many girls of each age up to 18 years were reported missing in the United Kingdom in each month of the last five years for which records are available; how many and what percentage were missing from their own homes and how many and what percentage from care; and how many and what percentage were traced and after what average period of search.

Much of the information requested is not available centrally and could be obtained only by detailed scrutiny of police records at disproportionate cost. A certain amount of information about missing persons is published in the annual reports of the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, the chief constable of Leicestershire, and of other chief constables.The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis has also supplied the follow-

REPORTS^* TO THE METROPOLITAN POLICE CENTRAL INDEX OF MISSING PERSONS AGED UNDER 18
		Males					Females
			Absentees from care†		Other			Absentees from care†		Other
		Total	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.	Total	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.
1973	…	9,083‡	4,593	n. a.	4,490‡	n. a.	8,971	2,488	28	6,483	72
1974	…	10,312	4,107	40	6,205	60	8,577	2,255	26	6,322	74
1975	…	9,120	3,948	43	5,172	57	8,488	2,432	29	6,056	71
1976	…	9,596	4,164	43	5,432	57	9,676	2,698	28	6,978	72
1977	…	10,396	4,166	40	6,230	60	10,748	2,699	25	8,049	75

REPORTS^* TO THE METROPOLITAN POLICE CENTRAL INDEX OF MISSING PERSONS AGED UNDER 18 (EXCLUDING ABSENTEES FROM CARE†) NOT TRACED WITHIN 48 HOURS
			Males			Females
			Total	Metropolitan Police District	Provinces and overseas	Total	Metropolitan Police District	Provinces and overseas
1973	…	…	1,142	1,000	142	1,975	1,619	356
1974	…	…	1,284	1,119	165	2,070	1,750	320
1975	…	…	1,232	1,087	145	2,061	1,798	263
1976	…	…	1,170	1,039	131	1,982	1,738	244
1977	…	…	1,439	1,092	347	2,456	1,992	464
^* Reports cover all cases known to the Metropolitan Police, those cases known to other police forces in England and Wales which have been outstanding for one month and other cases which other police forces, including those overseas, choose to report. The same person may be reported missing more than once.
† Children in the care of the local authority, some of whom may have been residing in their own homes.
‡1st March to 31st December 1973 only.

Notes

Comparison of the above figures of reports for those not in local authority care indicates that a large proportion are traced within 48 hours of their going missing. No information is readily available on the length of search, which may start some time after the person went missing.

As at 10th November, 161 boys and 319 girls were recorded as being missing; these include cases where death is presumed but not body has been found.

Volume 958: debated on Thursday 16 November 1978