Thousands of people go missing every year, although most are found quickly.
Charity Missing People says “someone is reported missing every 90 seconds in the UK “, adding that “170,000 people are reported missing every year”.
It says that there are 353,000 reported missing incidents every year, of which more than 137,000 are adults and nearly 215,000 are children. These can be people who have gone missing more than once in a year.
The charity says: “Most of the people who are reported missing may be experiencing some kind of vulnerability or risk. This can be exacerbated by being missing, particularly where someone goes missing more than once.
“Research shows that police data is likely to be a significant underestimate. There are limitations to the NCA data, including differing recording practices and incomplete data, and some people will not be reported missing to the police at all.
“Research suggests that as many as seven in 10 children are not reported to the police when they go missing. Little is known about adults who are not reported missing.
“There is not one multi-agency definition of missing, however for definition for police is ‘anyone whose whereabouts cannot be established will be considered as missing until located, and their well-being or otherwise confirmed.'”
Three-quarters of adults and 80 per cent of children are found within 24 hours, while only 2 per cent of children and 5 per cent of adults go missing for longer than a week.
Why do people go missing?
This is hard to say. In adults, up to eight out of 10 cases are linked to undiagnosed mental health issues, while three in 10 are linked to relationship breakdowns.
One in 50 say that financial problems are a factor, and one in 50 also are escaping violence.
Four in 10 people with dementia will go missing at some point.
With children, more than half have seen conflict, abuse or neglect at home, and one in five felt forced to go.
Seven in 10 children who have experienced sexual exploitation also go missing at some point and one in four trafficked children who are under local authority care have gone missing.
One in five children disclosed information about mental health issues if they filled out a return home interview with the charity, plus one in 10 was at risk of self-harm and sadly 4 per cent were at risk of suicide.
When did Nicola Bulley go missing?
At 8.26am on Friday 27 January, Nicola Bulley left her home with her two daughters, aged six and nine, dropping them off at school and engaging in a brief conversation with another parent around 15 minutes later.
She then took her dog Willow for a walk along the path by the River Wyre at 8.43am, heading towards a gate in the lower field and was later seen by dog walker who knew her.
At 8.53am, Ms Bulley sent an email to her boss, followed by a message to her friends six minutes later, before logging on to a Microsoft Teams call at 9.01am. She was seen by a second witness at 9.10am, which is the last known sighting of her.
Ms Bulley’s phone was back in the area of the bench at 9.20am before the Teams call ended 10 minutes later, with her mobile remaining logged on after the call.
At 9.33am, another dog walker found her phone on a bench beside the river, with Willow darting between the two.
At 10.50am, Ms Bulley’s family and the school attended by her children were told about her disappearance.