One every 15 minutes: Australia’s missing persons crisis

Every 15 minutes, someone in Australia goes missing. This adds up to 38,000 people each year. The large majority of these people are found within the first week, however there are still over 1,600 classed as missing long term, which is longer than three months.

Since 1998, Australia has held the annual Missing Person’s Week from the 31st of July to 5th of August, with the intention to raise awareness and reduce the number of those who go missing, as well as provide support for the people whose loved ones have disappeared.

This year’s campaign focuses on youth disappearances, after research by the Australian Institute of Criminology revealed 3 in 5 people reported to the police as missing were under the age of 18.

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According to Missing Persons Australia, there are a number of reasons a young person might go missing. Stranger abduction makes up a small percentage with most common causes being:

Family and social conflict
Wanting to become independent
Victim of crime
Forgetting to communicate
Mental health issues
Drug and alcohol abuse

Case study: Tej Chitnis

In 2016, 20 year old Melbourne student Tej Chitnis was last seen driving along the Maroondah Highway. When he didn’t come home that afternoon his parents knew something wasn’t right.

“He would have called to let us know something was wrong”, explains his Mother Reva Chitnis. “Even if his phone was flat, he would have found a way to contact us, that’s just the type of person he is”.

Some time after he went missing, they discovered he hadn’t been attending his university classes for over a year. They thought this might have been a reason behind his disappearance, although there is still no solid evidence to support that.

“In a way it gave us a sense of relief, that he had run away because he didn’t want to tell us he didn’t want to study anymore.”

Reva says if this was the reason for his disappearance, that he would have told her about it, and strongly encourages other young people out there to discuss and deal with their mental health issues before they get out of hand.

“As far as I’m aware, Tej wasn’t dealing with any mental health issues, and if he was, he hid it extremely well. I just encourage other young people out there to talk to someone they trust if there is an issue”.

The rest of the world:

While the number of missing people in Australia is high, how does it compare to the rest of the world?

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In comparison to other nations, the UK has by far the greatest number of missing people per annum. Every two minutes a person goes missing. However, it is difficult to compare statistics between countries, as each nation will have a slightly different definition of what a missing person is and how the police will deal with it.

While the number or reported cases is incredibly high, 99% of reported cases are successfully resolved, leaving 2,200 unresolved.

Those left behind

Martyn Tann disappeared in 2013 and is yet to be found (photo: supplied)

One of the biggest issues when someone goes missing is the people they leave behind, wondering what happened, hoping one day all their efforts in searching for them comes to something.

In 2013, Gemma Tann’s brother, Martyn Tann disappeared after going for a swim on a Perth beach. Many suspected he had drowned, or been the victim of a shark attack, however Gemma has doubts about these theories.

Instead, they believe he might have gone off the radar to live in a remote community in either the Northern Territory.

“He was always a bit of a free spirit, and we are hoping he just went on a bit of an adventure”.

Like many families of missing people, she doesn’t believe there will be a time she stops looking for Martyn. She has set up a Facebook page, and contacted missing person advocacy groups in the hope that by making his case profile, it will lead to finding, or at least contacting him.