How to find a missing person. Step-by-step instructions YurExpert Online

submit an application to search for a missing person by contacting any police department. The location of the latter does not matter in this case, nor does the place of residence of the person being put on the wanted list. If all formalities are met, the necessary materials will in any case be sent to the direct contractor.

You should know that it is strictly prohibited to refuse to accept such an application; it must be registered immediately. There are also no time restrictions for filing such an application.

During the application process, a conversation with the applicant is required, during which any information that may be useful is clarified. Such information may include:

telephone numbers where you can try to reach the missing person;
where the missing person was last seen, what he looked like and what he was wearing;
IMEI of mobile phones;
document numbers, if available;
addresses of loved ones;
information about hobbies and habits;
information about work, social circle; the circumstances in which the loss occurred;
special signs - tattoos, scars, consequences of injuries, etc.

How do you know if a person has had an accident?

If a person goes missing, you need to contact the accident registration office. Police departments, medical institutions and morgues send here information every day about unidentified corpses, detainees, and people admitted to the hospital. Depending on the region, this department is assigned to a medical institution or law enforcement agency. To contact, you need to call the ambulance (03) and police (02) numbers. Next you will be contacted by the bureau . There is a separate website for Moscow.

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What to do if your application is not accepted

From time to time it happens that the police refuse to accept a missing person report. This is a gross violation of the law, and there are practically no reasons for not accepting the application. The only common legal reason for refusal is an incorrectly drawn up search application.

If your application is not accepted, you can do one of two things:

Contact the prosecutor's office. Loss reports sent to the prosecutor's office are also processed in an expedited manner. So the prosecutor's office, having considered your complaint against the police, will be able to force them to start searching;
Contact another police department. The legislation allows citizens to seek help from any police department, regardless of their place of residence and registration. So if the department at your place of residence refused to help, then it makes sense to contact the neighboring one - this will save a lot of time.

How to find a missing person yourself?

After contacting the police, it is recommended to do the following:

Personally call the missing person’s entire social circle to find out where he is.
Check the home, personal belongings of the lost person, try to remember any oddities in his behavior recently.
Check all possible routes of a given citizen.
If a child goes missing at reporting stations, you must immediately contact an information alert or security officer. Ask for an announcement over the loudspeaker. If a child disappears directly inside public transport, you need to contact the station duty officer and the police to check whether he left the transport at one of the stops along the route.
After more than 6 hours have passed, it makes sense to use the help of a private detective. The service is not cheap, but it is highly effective.

Search for missing persons in databases.

Today, there is a special dossier to collect information and record all missing people. Photographs, special features and any other information that may be useful for identifying a person are contained in this database.

Also, searches for missing people immediately begin in specialized Bureaus, whose employees continuously establish the location of those people who are wanted at a specific point in time. Information is also collected here about victims of accidents, those who were arrested for one reason or another, and unidentified bodies sent to the morgue.

It is also important to remember that in some cases, missing people themselves ask not to provide any information about their whereabouts, and this requirement is quite legitimate.

When should you contact the police?

If a person goes missing, you should immediately report it to the nearest police department by personally filing a statement. In this situation, prompt delivery of information is extremely important. You should not be afraid of contacting someone if you have doubts about what happened - you can always withdraw your application, and the search for a person will be most successful in the first hours, according to the so-called. hot on our heels.

The official search begins only after three days, but the notified police will keep the missing person “in mind.”

In addition to the application, you must attach a paper indicating all the features of the person’s appearance:

Height, weight and hair color. Describe the gait and how old the person looks.
Indicate special features - scars, moles, physical flaws and tattoos.
Provide information on teeth - absence, presence of dentures, etc.
Description of clothing and personal belongings, presence of a backpack/bag and glasses.

Along with this information is provided:

About the place of residence, actual and alleged.
Health features - dizziness, seizures, etc.
Availability of material assets.

Sample application structure

A sample application to the police to search for a person requires the following information:

In the header of the document (in the upper right corner) - the details and address of the applicant, full name of the addressee and details of the police department.
In the middle is the word “Statement”.
A brief but accurate description of what happened, all the data and distinctive features of the missing person and a request to find him.
Date and signature.

Even if the applicant does not have any information, the police are still required to accept the statement.

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Terms of consideration

By law, the police are required to begin search operations immediately after receiving a statement.

The law does not provide for a period during which the missing person may not be searched for. Employees of the internal affairs bodies must quickly find out the possible causes of the disappearance and the circumstances of the incident.

Is it possible to find a person by mobile phone?

A smartphone is a great tool for finding a person:

By phone number. This method is used by the police.
Using a special program to track a person’s location (tracker).
Based on indirect evidence: mobile banking and linked card, geolocation on social networks, etc.

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Reasons for disappearances

Most of the “lost people” are people leading an immoral lifestyle. It is normal for them not to appear at home for several days - new friends, or the thirst for the next “dose” cloud their minds. It is this category of citizens who are at risk, because their loved ones do not always immediately seek help. Other reasons:

Medical - a person may be suddenly “grabbed” on the street, passers-by will call an ambulance and the victim will be taken to the hospital. Another option is that the person suffers from mental disorders or memory loss (for example, people with senile dementia). In this state, they may find themselves far from home and not even remember information about themselves: name, address.
Criminal - murders, attacks (anyone can become a victim of a robber or street hooligans), kidnappings.
Intrafamily conflicts - quarrels, or the desire to leave home (this is often characteristic of adolescents during puberty).
Ideological motives or political views.

Reasons for disappearances

In particular cases, the reasons may be mixed: for example, if one of the biological parents kidnaps his child from his adoptive mother and father.

Is it possible to contact volunteers?

There is a large search organization in Russia that searches for missing people - “ Lisa Alert ”. You can call +7-800-700-54-52 and provide the operator with all available information about the missing person. By analogy with the police, the same principle applies - describe what happened in as much detail as possible, without hiding details. The completeness of the event picture increases the likelihood of a successful search and speeds it up. There is no need to be shy about asking for help. In any case, volunteers will not refuse to help a missing person at any time.

What if a child goes missing?

A child can disappear not only on the way from school, but even when he simply leaves an adult for a short time. There are different circumstances under which children are lost:

In the mall . You must immediately contact the security guard. He guides the parent to the place where an employee of the organization will announce the lost child via loudspeaker. If necessary, security guards will be temporarily on duty at the exits;
Outdoors . Situations are possible when parents are relaxing near a river, and a child who is playing too much runs away into the forest. If he does not respond to the cries of adults for a couple of minutes, then you should immediately call the rescue service;
Abroad . The problem may be complicated by the fact that vacationers do not know a foreign language and will not be able to immediately explain to the police that their child is lost. Even if law enforcement officers generally understood the situation, it is better to additionally contact the embassy.

How to avoid missing person?

You can significantly reduce the risk of extinction by following the recommendations below:

Parents of minors are required to:

Be aware of: the child’s movements, when he is going to return and who is with him.
Provide him with a charged mobile phone with the ability to quickly call family and the police.
Have a “recent” photograph of the child, it should not be older than 6 months.
Remember what clothes your child wears before leaving home.
Make sure that the child knows his address and full name.
Familiarize your child with rescue services.
If conditions permit, install a program that tracks the phone’s location via GPS on the child’s smartphone.

It is recommended for a relative of an elderly person:

Buy a phone for a person and teach them how to use it.
Make copies of all available documents, including your medical record. It is necessary to generally know the health status of an elderly relative.
Be aware of the places this person prefers to visit.
Establish contact with neighbors, ask to look after the elderly and notify you in suspicious cases.
Set GPS search offer.

All visitors to wild nature should:

Have a light source and spare batteries.
Keep a lighter or matches with you.
Take with you a small supply of provisions and a first aid kit.
Have a signal device and a charged mobile phone.
If you get lost, stay in one place and don’t panic. Try to attract attention to yourself using a signaling device.
If it gets dark, provide yourself with shelter for the night.

It is necessary to maintain frequent contact with a person at risk, at least once every 3 hours.

Application procedure

The procedure for registering a missing person document begins with the process of collecting the following data:

The place where witnesses saw the citizen.
Appearance description. It is necessary to indicate all the features of appearance.

All information is presented in writing accompanied by recent photos of the wanted citizen. After this, you need to fill out a statement and send it to the police department.

You can call the police and report the loss; law enforcement officers must accept and register the appeal. It is recommended to clarify the personal data of the employee who accepted the application.

After completing the registration process, the applicant will be issued an application registration number. From this moment, law enforcement agencies begin primary activities:

Inspect the scene where the missing person was spotted.
Talk to acquaintances, colleagues, friends and others who interacted with the missing person.
Study correspondence on social networks and emails.

You shouldn’t limit yourself to filing a missing person report with the police. To obtain the fastest possible results, you must continue collecting data. Call all area hospitals and morgues. Find out if there are unidentified patients. Restore the chronology of events:

When the missing person left the house.
What places did you visit?
Whom did you meet?
What time did he disappear?

You can also contact your mobile operator to obtain call details. Double-check all incoming and outgoing phone numbers. If there were unknown numbers among them, pay special attention to them. All information collected must be immediately transferred to law enforcement officials.

When to start worrying?

There is no universal recommendation: it all depends on the specific situation. And from the usual behavior of a certain citizen: for one, daily absences from home are the norm, and for another, a half-hour delay after work is unusual. Therefore, the first sign of a missing person is his disappearance from the sight of loved ones, which is uncharacteristic of usual behavior. Other criteria:

the person does not communicate for a long time - does not answer calls, SMS, messages on social networks;
none of his friends and relatives have information about his whereabouts;
absence from work;
relatives confirm that all the documents of the lost person are at home, as well as his belongings and money;
everything indicates that the disappearance that occurred was not planned: beloved pets were left unattended at home, the car was abandoned in a wrong place, and so on.

Important: there is an opinion that searches will begin no earlier than 72 hours after the loss. It's a delusion. The police accept a statement immediately after discovering the disappearance of a citizen. The basis is articles 144-145 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation.

If we are talking about a child, then you should not delay contacting the Ministry of Internal Affairs - practice shows that it is easier to find a missing minor without delay, so literally minutes count.

Article 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation “Procedure for considering a report of a crime”

Article 145 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation “Decisions made based on the results of consideration of a report of a crime”

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