THE MISSING PERSON - GENEALOGY versus THE DETECTIVE

I recently met someone who is related to a MISSING PERSON.  The missing person went on a vacation to see relatives and rented a car, deciding to go to another city that is a tourist trap before returning home.  Who hasn't used an extra day or so when near some attractions to go see them, a once in a lifetime opportunity, when far from home? Months ago he was last heard from by cell phone.  All seemed to be well. He was a loving father and family man. They didn't actually think of him as missing until about a week later when he didn't use his return ticket. Until then a lot of rationalizing was going on. The cell phone was never found but went dead.  Later the rental car was found with no evidence of him in it. The family feels they did all they could do including making appeals for information on television, posting on Facebook, and so on.  Now they have faith in God and see him in their dreams.  

MISSING PERSONS! The mystery of what happened to them and when, not knowing if and when they were a victim of criminals or an accident, or if they went missing deliberately for some unknown reason, challenge loving family in every way possible. I personally feel this person is not on this earth, but it is too soon too soon to give up hope.

I find that the work of David Paulides
CANADIAN AMERICAN MISSING - DAVID PAULIDES is quite fascinating.  

Paulides is broadcasting via interviews and YouTube almost weekly, focusing on some of the most mysterious disappearances in National Parks, in a very open minded way that might include BigFoot or UFO's, which I realize turns some people off.  Yet, he remains on the side of true detective work and skepticism and is probably the person most responsible in North American for working on the problem of ineptitude in investigations, unaccountably of and bureaucratic messes in governmental agencies when it comes to missing persons. 

Listen to him and you'll begin to wonder how so very many people could be simply gone.

He says that one should never go hiking without a partner, am electronic device that would help locate you (not just a cell phone), and a weapon. 

So, is there a way to use genealogy instead of a detective to work on this missing person case?

The answer is NO. The situation is too new. Possibly if the situation is old enough, there might be some evidence that the person just went away and settled somewhere else. 

I consider birth parents gone missing to be traceable using some genealogy methods. I was able to locate one father within hours of being asked to. He had not changed his name.

A person may not actually be "missing" if they did not go out of their way to change their identity, such as changing their name. Because of electronic databases and informational services, to go missing on purpose is more difficult by the minute. But once in a while you hear of someone who just went away, found employment, someone who never divorced but remarried.  Their neighbors are astounded to find out that they were actually a WANTED PERSON all those years when they'd been considered to be pillars of their community.

Police detectives have access to databases that may help track a person's movements and expenditures. Making missing persons reports with police is a first step.  It's often not enough.  A person who wants to disappear is probably not going to use their credit cards or the same phone. They are probably going to leave with a lot of cash on hand and have made plans to go from here to there - such as another country - in advance. It's not impossible but generally difficult to have that much cash in hand if you're an ordinary individual. Off to another country we might consider how well did they speak Spanish or Polish when they left?  Yet, I reason, everyone has a secret life, a self they keep private. It's possible that the missing person had some associations his wife and children knew nothing about.

Sometimes it's just that an agency budgets only so much time and money to a case. Then it goes COLD.

If there is a person who is missing that you want to find, try to avoid certain assumptions such as that they are missing because their Facebook page is static or taken down. Maybe they're just taking a time out from social networking.  Additionally, maybe they are taking a break from YOU.  Maybe the relationship was not as good as you imagined it. (Are you a stalker with an imaginary romance?)  

One person asked me, "What if they went into a Witness Protection Program?"  Well, I don't know exactly how that works.  From reading around it, the person being protected has to check in frequently with law enforcement.  To start a new life elsewhere the FBI may have helped with name changes and ID's and so on. And the person or family has to be ready to be moved again - and again.  I doubt that an individual with a loving family would go and leave them behind without telling them but in the Witness Protection Program, it can be no-contact. Usually people in this program are in it because they are considered to be on hit lists or in deep trouble because of their testimonies against criminals.  Witness Protection Program people live very controlled lives. 

So, Blessings to those who are missing someone they love, as they cope with the changes in their lives because of the mystery of what happened.

C 2018  Ancestry Worship Genealogy BlogSpot

Update July 2019.
The missing man's remains were found, in a field not far from where the rental car had been found.  Foul play is suspected.

LADY AND KNIGHT

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