Dear sasquatch77-ga;
Thank you for allowing me an opportunity to answer your interesting question.
I?ve spent the last two decades in law enforcement and in that time I
have worked dozens upon dozens of missing persons cases. Believe it or
not, the vast majority of people reported missing ?do? actually
return, because, in most instances they were never really ?missing? at
all. For the most part people who are reported missing are actually
just absent, unaccounted for, tardy, or not in attendance of their own
will whether they are runaway juveniles or estranged spouses. In a
relatively small number of cases a missing person is actually
?missing? as a result of foul play (force, kidnapping, child or adult
abduction), illness (mental disease or defect, suddenly fell ill),
death (died from natural or other non-criminal causes and it has yet
to be discovered), accident (incapacitated somewhere and it has yet to
be discovered), etc. In extremely rare cases, some people have been
known to allow themselves to be reported missing, either by staging an
incident or by withholding their whereabouts with the intent of
deceiving another into believing that they have died or that foul play
has otherwise caused them to be unaccounted for.
Closing a missing person case is as simple as having the person
reappear. Unless a person is a juvenile or unless that person
knowingly participated in some type of criminal deception (false
statement, fraud, obstruction, etc) it is no crime to be ?missing?. In
fact, people do it all the time for one reason or another. Basically
what happens is the investigator pulls the case file and stamps it
?Case Closed? and files it away in the archive of other closed cases.
That, is literally ?that?.
Having said that, the circumstances surrounding the missing person,
their age, their mental status, the time frame and so forth would all
have to be taken into account. Each potential scenario would have to
be dealt with differently and these factors (among others) would
determine how the case is treated. The reasons for such an event can
be as numerous as the events themselves, so let?s focus first on what
paperwork is generated so you?ll have an idea about what, if anything,
is closed or ?suspended? when or if the person reappears.
Every missing person call has a ?complainant?. This is the person who
initiates the first report of the event. An investigator, usually a
uniformed officer, is the first to arrive and interviews the
complainant primarily to (1) determine of the complaint is valid (2)
to find out if anyone has been injured (3) if a crime has been
committed. This is a fairly standard procedure for all calls. If the
officer determines the complaint is valid he will write a report and
obtain a case number via radio or telephone to assign to the case. If
a child is involved, foul play is known or suspected, or if a person
has been injured as a result, the officer will likely call other
officers and perhaps investigators (Detectives) to assist him. In
major cases a specially trained Crime Scene Unit may be called in to
cordon off the area and collect the evidence, especially if the area
is large or of the evidentiary items were numerous. It would not be
uncommon for a group of officers to methodically search the immediate
area or assist in locating or collecting evidence as needed in the
cases I mentioned where children are missing or foul play was
suspected.
Now, let?s talk about the reports. Each officer involved might make a
brief report on his activities related to this investigation. This far
we?d have:
An incident report (sometimes called an offense report or ?complaint)
An investigator?s report (a more thorough interview of the complainant)
Evidence reports(s) documenting each piece of evidence, what it was,
where it was found, the condition it was in, etc)
Activity reports (sometimes called ?supplemental reports?). This is a
report of any other officers? activities, usually completed by each
individual officer.
An access log. This is used when there is a crime scene. Officers will
seal off an area where they believe evidence exists and document the
entry and ext of each individual coming into that area for official
business related to the investigation.
The lead Detective will often interview witnesses or potential
witneses, go door to door and ask neighbors if they have noted any
suspicious activity or stange noises, etc. Each of these interviews
will also be documented.
Assuming the person has not been found and the search produced nothing
productive. The Detective(s) then return to the office and compile
follow up reports. These are usually type written reports related to
notes they made in the field.
The missing person?s physical identification, description, and license
or State ID data is turned over to a Communications Technician who
enters the data and the circumstances surrounding the missing person
event into a nationwide database. Obviously, once again, a report
follows.
The evidence will be turned over to an Evidence Technician (unless an
Evidence Technician was already present at the scene) and he will
prepare reported related to the intake of each item. Every item will
be packaged separately and prepared for transport to a Crime Lab
(unless the agency has a crime lab on site) and reports will be made
on each item relative to the type of testing necessary.
Detective may return to the scene several times over a period of days
and search for more clues or interview more witnesses. More reports
will be filed documenting these investigations as well.
Up to now, this hypothetical situation has been pretty standard but
here?s where it gets a bit complicated:
If a crime has taken place and a suspect has been developed through
evidence or interviews, that person is located and interviewed if
possible. If there is probable cause to arrest that person, the
Detectives will fill out an ?affidavit?. This is a sworn document
outlining the evidence substantiating the probable cause. The
affidavit is taken to a Judge and if he agrees that probable cause
does exist, he will sign a warrant for the arrest of the suspect.
Detectives will then return to the suspect (if he is not already being
detained) and arrest him. So, now we have:
Follow up reports related to the suspect interview.
If there are tapes or videos of this interview they are treated as
evidence and the same procedure applies to these as it did with any
other evidence. The Evidence Technician is involved and he also makes
reported related to the intake of this new evidence.
An affidavit.
An arrest is warrant.
Once the person has been arrested, an arrest form is filled out.
Photographs are taken.
Rights forms are filled out and signed.
Another interview takes place (possibly even more tapes or videos).
A bail determination interview and form are completed.
The suspect?s clothing and personal items are seized as evidence.
Additional affidavits may be filed related to search warrants ? one
for the suspect?s personal residence and/or car and perhaps another
for his person. Obviously if the residence is searched another report
related to that activity will be filed and if DNA, blood, hair or
fingernail scrapings or clippings are taken from his body yet another
series of reports will be filed for those items.
Now, in a situation where there is no suspect or no crime has been
committed and no leads or evidence implicate anyone ? it?s all just
been a mystery - let?s say that the missing person suddenly resurfaces
after three or four weeks. Detectives will interview the ?victim? to
determine if HE willfully misled authorities in an effort or attempt
to commit a crime or to conceal a crime. If he has not, the case is
simply closed and considered ?unfounded?. All of the reports I
mentioned earlier (or any combination of them) will be closed along
with the case. If he has, then HE becomes the suspect and the same
process of arresting HIM might follow as I described earlier.
Finally, let me say this: If you are this missing person yourself, and
efforts are being made to investigate YOUR disappearance, you should
let the authorities know. You can do this ANYWHERE. In other words, if
you are in Las Vegas and you know you have been reported missing in
New York, you could call the authorities in Las Vegas and let them
know you are ok and that you are not ?missing?. They may require you
to physically present yourself so they can see for themselves that you
are indeed who you claim to be and that you are ok. If you have
committed no crime and you are an adult, they will more then likely
notify your local authorities that you have been located but do not
wish to return. The agency that filed the original report will
probably close the case, notify the complainant that you have been
located, remove your name from the nationwide missing person database
and the evidence in the matter will be returned to it?s owner(s) or
destroyed.
If you are a juvenile, you can expect to be taken into custody and
eventually returned to your home of record.
If you have in some way participated in a criminal deception in order
to mislead authorities into believing you were missing or abducted (or
to defraud someone like an insurance company for example) when in fact
you had not been missing at all, then you may face criminal charges IN
THE STATE WHERE YOU COMMITTED THE OFFENSE. That is to say that even
though you may have committed a crime in New York, if the agency in
New York is not willing to extradite you (come physically pick you up
or pay for your transport back to face charges) you MAY still avoid
being arrested altogether, or perhaps ever, provided you don?t go back
to New York or don?t get detained in a state closer to New York where
it might be more economically feasible for that agency to extradite
you from. On the other hand, if you have committed a crime related to
your disappearance New York (using this same example) may in fact be
willing to extradite you no matter where you happen to be, in which
case you very well might be arrested on the spot by Las Vegas
authorities.
The bottom line, as I mentioned earlier, is that an adult cannot
commit the crime of disappearing. While it may be concerning to
everyone involved, and perhaps even selfish on the missing person?s
part, the fact remains that it is still not a crime for a healthy
adult to go missing so long as he doesn?t break the law doing it. It?s
a free country and you are free to come and go as you please. No law
in any of the 50 US States requires an adult to seek permission or
even tell anyone that he is ?running away from home?, no matter what
the reason. With that said, it may be in some states that if you KNOW
you have been reported missing and you KNOW that extraordinary efforts
are being made at the cost of the taxpayers to find you, and you
willfully obstruct that effort, this COULD be construed as a crime in
itself. I cannot offer you legal advice in this forum, but common
sense would dictate that if this fits the description of yourself or
someone you know, the best thing to do is to come clean before it gets
any worse, let everyone off the hook as soon as possible and get on
with your new life elsewhere.
If you have any questions or comments about specific issues, I?ll be
glad to post a clarification for you. Below you will find that I have
carefully defined my search strategy for you in the event that you
need to search for more information. By following the same type of
searches that I did you may be able to enhance the research I have
provided even further. I hope you find that that my research exceeds
your expectations. If you have any questions about my research please
post a clarification request prior to rating the answer. Otherwise, I
welcome your rating and your final comments and I look forward to
working with you again in the near future. Thank you for bringing your
question to us.
Best regards;
Tutuzdad ? Google Answers Researcher
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Clarification of Answer by
tutuzdad-ga
on
16 Apr 2004 09:05 PDT
I?m thrilled to be able to play technical advisor to you fiction
project and I?ll happily elaborate:
First, a mental patient, if committed involuntarily, would be normally
be placed in the guardianship of a responsible party or considered a
ward of the state. In other words, the mere fact that a person has
been institutionalized against their will means that they would first
have been adjudged mentally incompetent. This leads to two potential
scenarios: (1) a family member has become the patient?s guardian and
someone (possibly the same family member) will normally have power of
attorney over all their affairs, or (2) the person is considered
indigent and is now the responsibility of the State.
In either case, under ideal circumstances the guardian (be it family
member or State) and the institution to which the person had been
committed would both be immediately notified of the recovery of such a
missing person because the patient is incompetent and someone else is
charged with handling his or her affairs. The treatment of a case with
regard to a mental patient would fundamentally be no different that if
the missing person was a small child, who could not or would not be
able to make rational decisions about their well-being either legally
or intellectually. The authorities would immediately notify that
child?s parents or guardian.
If you are looking for a loophole for the purposes of your story, I
can easily see where bureaucracy and institutional red tape could
provide for you. It might be that if the institution reported the
absence (someone there was the original complainant) and when the
patient was located the locating agency notified only ?them?, but the
institution (perhaps trying to protect themselves from a potential
lawsuit for negligence, being swamped and understaffed, or just as a
simple oversight) failed to notify the family guardian in a timely
manner (or at all). Certainly I?m not suggesting that this is common
practice, but I can VERY easily see where this might happen.
Now, if the patient is ?voluntarily? in this institution there is
nothing keeping her there. She can leave if she wants to, but for the
purposes of your story you say the patient is on ?a pass? and
?driving?. While these might apply to someone who is seeking help for
substance abuse or perhaps even depression, neither of these
activities, in my experience at least, would be realistically
consistent with a mental patient in the majority of cases because
strong drugs are often used to treat these afflictions. The exception
might be where the institution was a kind of ?half-way house? where
people are being reintroduced to society after some extensive
treatment at an in-patient facility, and their drug therapy has been
dramatically reduced or discontinued. In either instance, this one or
the one I mentioned previously, it is plausible, but not likely that
any person would go missing under the seemingly tragic circumstances
you mentioned and absolutely nothing be publicized or passed or about
their sudden reappearance, especially in the event that a well
publicized search for the remains took place at great cost to the
taxpayers. If the missing person were to suddenly resurface under
their same name with the intent of carrying on with their life, two
additional things would immediately come into play: (1) The person
would be investigated for fraud, false alarm, obstruction, etc and/or
(2) the person, whose sanity is already in question, would be returned
to the institution with a fairly convincing report that they are
clearly not in their right state of mind. As you can see, this is a
double jeopardy type situation. If insists on carrying out this
charade in an effort to protect her reputation with the claim that she
is sane and says that she merely did it to shake her past, then she
would clearly have intentionally staged her own death and be
potentially liable for criminal charges (the very least of which are
criminal mischief, failure to report an accident and leaving the scene
of an accident) and civil charges (reimbursing the state huge sums of
money expended on the futile search efforts). On the other hand, if
the person were to claim that she could not be held considered
responsible for her actions because she was not sane, then she has
defeated her purpose and only adds to the miseries of her past with
yet another series of nutty behaviors, and will promptly find herself
back in the cuckoo?s nest.
?How difficult would if be for her to reappear (satisfy all police
interest and have the case closed), without her friends and family
finding out??
Tremendously difficult, if not impossible, assuming she was using her
same name and reappeared in the same place she went missing from. To
think otherwise would not be realistic, even in the smallest and most
inexperienced jurisdictions.
?Upon her reappearance, the investigating officer would typically
contact a friend or family member as a matter of routine right??
No necessarily. It depends on who the legal guardian, physcial
guardian and the original complainant are. If the institution
(physical guardian) was the complainant, then they would be the point
of contact upon recovery and it would be up to them to notify the
legal guardian. If the legal guardian was the complainant, then
typically they would be notified upon recovery and the patient would
be physically taken back to the institution at which time they would
obviously be notified as well.
?Also, he would contact her mental institution.?
Most definitely.
I hope this adds significantly to what we?ve already discussed.
Regards;
Tutuzdad-ga
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