How to Search for a Lost Person
- 1). If you lose someone while in a retail establishment, contact store personnel immediately. Many stores have a lock-down procedure in place that is immediately initiated upon reports of a missing child. This can prevent the child from wandering away or being abducted from a retail establishment. If the person is an adult, personnel can page the person through their intercom system.
- 2). Contact the person through his or her cell phone, pager or other personal communication devices. Use both voice and text messaging to insure delivery in loud areas or those with sporadic coverage. Frequently text messages will go through when a short window of service appears; voice calls may not.
Likewise, check e-mail, voicemail, missed calls and text messages to make sure they didn't try to contact you. - 3). Call friends and family of the lost person and ask if they have any information. If not, then you may be able to get their help in locating the person.
- 4). Call the police or state clearinghouses to report a missing person. If the missing person is a child, the search may begin immediately. However, missing adult reports may require 24 hours before they are officially considered missing.
- 5). Call hospitals in your area and check that the missing person wasn't injured and being treated. Likewise, you can search jails for recent arrests, or homeless shelters that may have collected a missing person. The National Center for Missing Adults lists several online resources where you can begin such searches
- 6). Post flyers with a photo of the missing person around the location he/she was last seen. Be sure to include contact details, so someone can contact you if they know something.
- 7). Check online posts, especially on social networking sites, such as MySpace, Facebook and Twitter. People frequently post current or future activities on their pages. You might find where they were when they disappeared, or you might discover they are not lost at all.
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