The Right Way to Find Missing People
What is the right way to find a missing person? When it comes to professional investigators like those in law enforcement or in private practice, the answer may change depending on who you ask. It’s crucial to report a person missing with law enforcement so that information about their disappearance can be distributed regionally or even nationally, increasing the chances that they might be recovered. However, missing person cases also require the independence and personal attention of a private investigator to increase the chances of a missing person to be found. It can leave the families of missing persons wondering—what is the right way to find a missing person?
It is difficult to answer this question, because despite patterns among missing person cases in the United States, every single missing person case is different and will require different disciplines and methodologies depending on the circumstances of the disappearance. Families can find themselves split or unsure of who to trust to find answers in their loved one’s disappearance. The complicated truth is that this may not be a question of law enforcement or private intelligence. Missing person cases can have dozens of variables that require multi-pronged approach, and singular strategies can easily miss important details that could be lost forever.
When a loved one goes missing, the first step is calling the police and filing a missing person report. This ensures that an official file on the missing person has been started with investigating authorities. If the missing person is picked up by law enforcement, or their remains are discovered, the police are able to trace them back to the family and finally deliver closure in their case. Police and law enforcement have access to the nation’s best resources in intelligence operations and have the support of their colleagues in uniform as well as an administrative support staff. However, law enforcement may not have received comprehensive training required in a missing person search, or they do not have the adequate amount of man-power to meet the demands of their casework. As such, important leads can go unnoticed, or in the worst-case scenario, a search for the missing person never gets past the intake interview. That’s because missing person cases require swift, personalized attention that law enforcement is systemically not designed to give.
Private investigators are the second prong in the approach towards missing person investigators. The right way to find a missing person requires swift action, verified resources, and personalized attention. While private investigators may not have access to as many resources as law enforcement, they still have access to verified databases and other resources that allow them to develop leads in the missing person cases. With the help of those databases and their years of experience in investigations. Unlike law enforcement, private investigators are allowed to leave the jurisdiction where an investigation began in order to follow clues where they may lead. When an investigation would take law enforcement out of their jurisdiction, they may not be able to investigate. That means more leads and relevant witnesses are lost. Private investigators can follow up on leads as soon as they receive them, and increase the chances of the missing person being found. The case load of a private investigator is also a fraction of what police detectives typically carry, which means they are able to give the missing person case the level of attention that it deserves.
Utilizing the police and private investigators to search for your missing loved one is one of the best ways to cover all your bases. It’s the investigative equivalent to getting a second opinion and making sure that no one investigator will get tunnel vision with regards to the investigation. The right way to find a missing person is to have a multi-pronged approach in order to ensure that no valuable evidence or witness testimony will be lost in the process.
If your family is unsure of the right way to find a missing person, call Lauth Investigations International today at 317-951-1100 or visit us online at www.lauthmissinstg.wpengine.com.