COMMUNITY POLICING NEVER FORGOTTEN MISSING BUT Guest columnist Steve Dodd, former South Wales Police


detective constable, explores the emotional, operational and community impact of missing person investigations in the UK, and why trust and intelligence are vital for effective policing


Missing person cases are among the most intimate, distressing, and resource- intensive investigations undertaken by the police. They are not simply administrative entries in a log; each report represents a life potentially in danger and a community in distress. The disappearance of an individual, whether through voluntary absence, accidental loss, or criminal act, sends ripples far beyond the immediate household. Families are left with uncertainty, communities feel the tremor of fear, and law enforcement shoulders the heavy burden of response. The cause, as it were, remains - long after a person is


30 | POLICE | DECEMBER | 2025


reported missing, and often beyond the point of resolution. This article explores the human, operational, and community dimensions of missing person enquiries in the United Kingdom, demonstrating why community intelligence is indispensable to effective policing in this domain.


THE LINGERING IMPACT OF DISAPPEARANCE Disappearance is an act that fractures normality. For those left behind, the absence is not empty, it is filled with a gnawing uncertainty and a spectrum of emotions from fear to hope, guilt to despair. As Brian Keenan reflected in ‘An


Evil Cradling’ during his own experience of captivity, “We were overwhelmed with fear that our parents might die before we got home. It held us frozen and every night we knew that each prayed for the comfort and survival of our families.” In the context of missing persons, this sentiment captures the emotional paralysis that grips families during periods of not knowing. The effects of a disappearance


extend beyond the immediate family. Communities may become unsettled, feeling their collective safety has been compromised. Neighbours grow cautious, local rumours circulate, and


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