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Guidelines to Follow
- Law Enforcement |
Most people’s experience with law enforcement may only have come when
receiving a traffic ticket or when reporting a theft of some kind.
When a loved one becomes missing, it is a totally different matter.
You must work closely with law enforcement over a period of days,
weeks, months, or even years. Both sides will request things of each
other, and these requests should be met to obtain the mutual goal of
bringing your loved one home.
As stated in the First 24 Hours section, it is up to you to convince
law enforcement that your loved one did not leave of his or her own
free will. If your child is under the age of 13, this task is not
difficult. It will be more difficult to convince them that a teenager
or adult did not run away or leave on his or her own. Remember this;
they probably do not know the missing person, but you do. You know
his or her habits and traits, and you should know if he/she left
willingly or not.
Your main job is to provide information to law enforcement. Remember
to give law enforcement the list you made earlier of people who know
the missing person. This is very important. Do not feel bad for
emphasizing certain possible suspects, such as ex-boyfriends,
ex-husbands, ex-wives, and any possible enemies. Remember to keep a
copy of the list in your notebook.
Any diaries, receipts, parking tickets, or other information may be
important to the case. Tell law enforcement about any recent events
or activities that were attended by the family.
Make sure that law enforcement has the missing person added to the
National Crime Information Center, or NCIC. This database may be
accessed nationwide by any law enforcement agency with a NCIC
terminal. The FBI should also be notified. If your state has a
missing person clearing house, your loved one should be added
there as well.
Insist on receiving regular updates on the case. It is your loved
one who is missing. You have the right to be kept informed. If you
are not happy with the way the case is proceeding, talk to the
officer in charge. If the officer in charge does not satisfy you,
talk to his or her superior.
Ask law enforcement to help you contact local and national media.
The more coverage the missing person receives, the better.
Remember that the family is almost always suspected first. Try to
not be offended by this. A good way to get law enforcement to
move on to other suspects is to have everyone in your immediate
family take a polygraph. The sooner that law enforcement
eliminates the family from any involvement, the sooner they can
move on to other potential suspects.
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