Investigating missing person cases: how can we learn where they go or how far they travel?

This article discusses the need to improve our understanding of where people go when they go missing and its applications for policing policy. The paper will use a pilot study of 70 solved adult missing person cases. The analysis includes frequencies and a measure of distances travelled by missing persons from the location where they went missing to where they were found. The study explores the demographic background of missing persons and examines a variety of travel patterns. The discussion focuses on explaining the spatial patterns of missing persons and the potential to improve police investigations of missing person cases by reducing search areas. Finally, recommendations are made for policy changes.