Every year around 200,0000 people are reported missing, a large amount of these cases involve children and are thankfully solved within a few hours, but a small minority of them almost always involving adults last far longer, in some cases they can last years.
When a person goes missing, it can be heart-breaking to the people they leave behind.
Not knowing what has happened to a loved one can ruin lives forever.
There are many reasons why a person may decide to abscond without warning, they may be suffering from a difficult time in their lives and want to distance themselves from their problems, or they might actually be suffering from a form of mental illness but more often than not a missing person has intentionally disappeared.
As long as they are not running from a crime or an outstanding debt, they technically have every right to do so, as there is no direct law forbidding someone deciding to go missing.
However, there are a number of ways that the family of a missing person can attempt to locate their loved one, and an increasingly popular way is to contact a private investigator who can find them for you.
A private investigator will just need some information about the missing person and if possible a photograph.
A private investigator will use the latest technology like GPS vehicle tracking, personal surveillance and CCTV operations that allow for a subject to be followed 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Once a missing person is located, a private investigator will not attempt to contact this person themselves but will instead simply report back to the family of the individual.
They can then decide what course of action to take next This may mean they decide not to contact the person at all, if their loved one is living a happy life wherever they are, sometimes simply having the knowledge they are OK is all the family needs to know The missing person themselves is not under any obligation to return even if the their family does decide to make contact.
By hiring a private investigator you can be assured of a highly professional service that will never use any information you provide them with in an exploitative fashion, and if you hire through a large company you don't have to have any direct personal contact with the investigator assigned to conduct your search if you'd prefer not.
Many private investigation companies are primarily debt collection agencies and are therefore skilled at finding and researching those who have disappeared without warning.
Having a loved one go missing is always going to be a painful experience, and hiring somebody to locate them may even feel as if you are breaching their privacy, but sometimes it's the only way to find the much needed the peace of mind of knowing there are safe and well.