Whether it’s a teenage girl who ran away from her strict parents to spend the night with her boyfriend, a drug user not answering his mobile phone or an elderly lady who suffers from dementia and got lost on her way home, the police take reports of missing persons seriously.

“We get an average of more than one a day,” assistance commissioner of police Michael Cassar told The Malta Independent on Sunday.

Last year, for example, there were 391 reported cases of people who went missing. Thankfully, most of them were found by the police or returned home of their own free will. But four were found dead, according to figures given in Parliament by Justice and Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici last week (Table 1).

Since police records started being kept, there are 102 people who went missing since 1970 and were never found (Table 2). The number shot up from 31 in 1996 to 102 at the end of last year, largely because a number of migrants registered with the Maltese authorities over the past years when the influx of people landing illegally in Malta increased, in all probability escaped from the island.

“Although they are listed as missing persons, it is very likely that they managed to leave the country; how we don’t know. Once we find out about people who presumably escaped from the island, we alert Interpol and Europol, but unless they are caught or make contact, they will remain on our list of missing persons because the last time they were seen was in Malta,” Mr Cassar said.

But, sadly, there are then other cases that are more heartbreaking.

The last Maltese person reported missing and who has so far not been found is Herbert Paul Mercieca, 34, of Rabat, who went diving at Ghajn Tuffieha on 11 January last year and has never been seen since.

Before him, Charlene Farrugia, 25, of Qawra, vanished in what police consider mysterious circumstances on 6 November 2008. A year later, the police issued a reminder about her disappearance, in the hope that a new lead would be discovered. But no one came up with new information.

Theo Bugeja, the 11-year-old boy who was with his father Simon on board the vessel Simshar, which reportedly exploded while at sea in July 2008, is still on the missing persons’ list. His father, who survived the incident, told police he saw his son go into the water but his body has never been found. Until it is, the police must still keep him on the list of missing persons.

Earlier that year, another Maltese, Samuel Dalli, was reported missing and has never been located. The 34-year-old man of Zurrieq was last seen on 11 January 2008.

The disappearance of French diving instructor Alaine Michel Bellini, 44, while performing a technical dive at Xlendi Bay on 25 September, is also still baffling the police.

In all, 20 Maltese people are on the police missing persons’ list. The “oldest” case dates back to 7 February 1970, when Carmelo Schembri was reported missing. That same year, on 4 August, Evelyn Attard was also reported missing.

The rest are of different nationalities - Danish, Egyptian, Palestinian, Swiss, Libyan, Belgian, Syrian, Moroccan, Nigerian, Chinese, Bangladeshi, Ethiopian, Somali, Algerian, Malian, Swedish, Indian, Czech, Chadian, Cameroonian, Ghanaian and Ivorian. On various occasions, people of the same nationality have been reported missing on the same day, leading police to believe that they simply made their escape from the country.

Statistics provided in an answer to a parliamentary question show that more women tend to be reported missing than men. This is also true for people under 17 years of age – 92 young ladies were reported missing last year, as against the 47 males.

The first thing Mr Cassar said busted a myth – which is that the police take action after receiving a missing person report only after 48 hours. “This is wrong, completely wrong. It would be irresponsible to wait 48 hours to start searching for a person. On the contrary, the earlier the police get to know about a missing person the better, because it gives us a better chance to find him or her.”

An early report would help the police trace the last whereabouts of the person much better than if they had to mount the search two days later. Knowing what the person was wearing and giving a description of what he or she looks like can be of great help.

Today, technology also provides assistance to the police – tracing of mobile phones or CCTV provide the police with valuable information. Sometimes, however, this is not enough. If mobile phones are switched off or photos taken by street cameras are blurred, they would not be so helpful. But many times they have served their purpose well, and people who went missing could be located through the use of such technology.

Once a report is filed, the police transmit the relevant data of the missing person to all its sections, including the district police and mobile squad. A profile of the person is built from the information given by the relatives and, armed with this information, the police are able to start their search.

This profile is not only “physical”, that is the height of the person, the style of hair and the colour of the eyes. It would also include information on the places frequented by the person, as this could be very helpful when a search is mounted. A list of people he or she could have made contact with is also drawn up.

Mr Cassar said that a file is opened the first time a person is reported missing. There are people, particularly youngsters, who run away from home on a habitual basis and, through experience, the police learn where to look for them. Keeping such files with the relevant information are of great assistance to the police when people go missing more than once.

All cases are treated with the same importance, but there are reports that are more serious than others. For example, when known drug users or elderly people with mental conditions disappear, the police are on red alert, more so than when a teenager who habitually runs away from home is reported missing.

Not all cases make it to the media. The police only issue information to the public when it is clear that they need feed back from the public to assist them in their searches. Of course, there are times when police get the wrong information, but several times help from the public was a determining factor in tracing a missing person.

Mr Cassar said that domestic violence or other family problems are the main reason why people leave their home. In the case of teenagers, these youngsters often run away because of strict parents.

Often, once a missing person is found, the police need to take action against other people involved. For example, if a woman runs away from home because her husband abuses her, the man is charged in court with domestic violence. If an under-aged girl spends the night out with her boyfriend the man is charged with defilement.

But running away is not a crime, and the police do not press charges against people who go missing and are then found, in spite of the amount of time and resources used to find that missing person.

Mr Cassar urged anyone with information on missing persons to make contact, confidentially, with the police. People might think that what they know is not important, but the police could link parts of the jigsaw together and make a complete picture.

Any information about missing persons can be given to the police by calling 2122 1111 or 119.

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