Can social media help find missing people?

Tony Loftis is in no doubt that social media saved his daughter.

In November last year, his then 13-year old ran away from their home near Boston to New York in the United States. He found her 12 days later, with a 42-year-old sexual predator, after setting up a social media campaign which led to the tip which helped police track down his daughter.

“The first couple of days she was missing, we didn’t sleep. We didn’t know where she was, what she was doing – and the longer it goes on the more you worry,” he told Channel 4 News.

“But once we got the social media programme up and running, I slept. In my case and others, it means families can go to sleep at night knowing they have done everything they can do to find and bring their child home safely.”

To know you’ve made a difference to bringing your kid home safely is a big deal. Tony Loftis, founder of Find Your Missing Child

For Mr Loftis, his social media efforts brought his daughter’s story back onto the agenda after the main TV news stations told him they didn’t cover runaway kids.

After coverage of his Facebook, YouTube and Twitter campaign in the Huffington Post, local papers and then TV stations followed the story. An appearance by Mr Loftis on a morning news bulletin prompted the tip which ultimately lead to the recovery of his child.

Bringing kids home safely

“I was lying in a pool on the floor of the office – crying – it was just such a huge, huge relief when we found her and to know you’ve made a difference to bringing your kid home safely is a big deal,” he said.

As a result of his experiences, Mr Loftis has put together a guide for other parents on using social media to help search for their missing children – it’s available here on his “Find Your Missing Child” website.

“I couldn’t believe it didn’t exist already. It goes back to the community of people looking for your kid – the more people there are looking, the more likely you are to find them,” he said. He believes using social media creates this community, as well as driving people towards helping in the search. It also lets people know how to help.

He admits there are negatives – for example, his daughter’s name is out there forever. But for him, it was worth it to find her.

Mark Houghton-Brown is the chief executive of UK charity Missing People. He agrees that there are some negatives involved in flooding social media with appeals for missing children – but the positives outweigh them.

Members of the public with any information about the location of missing April Jones are urged to call the Child Rescue Alert helpline on 0300 2000 333 or the Missing People charity in confidence on 116 000. 

“Misinformation is a real problem – we know of some high-profile child abduction inquiries which have been clouded with misinformation. That’s why we encourage people to use the right channels,” he told Channel 4 News.

“But it’s a risk worth taking because some of the information can be absolutely critical to police and so getting the message out there to someone who can help is important.

“What we know is that the first 24 hours when a child is missing are the golden hours – the time when you are most likely to launch a successful intervention. So time is critical when you are talking about the safety of a child.”

Getting information out quickly

Police officers agreed that the more quickly they can get information, the better.

Association of Chief Police Officers‘ lead on digital engagement, Assistant Chief Constable Gordon Scobbie, said: “Social networking has undoubtedly opened up new avenues for police engagement with the public and is particularly useful tool in getting information out to the public quickly when investigating crime…

“Sharing such information has provided numerous leads and helped solve many crimes.”

In the case of the missing five-year-old April Jones, who was abducted in Wales on 1 October, the charity Missing People has also used its digital billboards across the country for the first time to highlight her case.

Its efforts have joined others on Facebook – such as this Facebook page, which had over 8,000 likes by the afternoon of 2 October – and Twitter, where the hashtag #findapril has been championed by hundreds of users, including celebrities such as Stephen Fry.

“We know through social media the face and name can get into the hands of people, literally,” said Mr Houghton-Brown, who also pointed out that non-digital campaigns are still important.

He added: “We know of one case where a woman was sitting on a bus and she received a tweet about an appeal, and the person was also sat on the bus so she was able to call in with that sighting. And in a lot of cases the missing people themselves look on social media and they end up calling us.

“Clearly in a case like April’s, it is evident she has been abducted and it’s about people knowing the right information.

“It means wherever you are, say you are behind a grey van and you think you see something that doesn’t add up – you can get that info quickly and know where to look online and how to get that information to the people who can use it effectively.”

Members of the public with any information about the location of missing April Jones are urged to call the Child Rescue Alert helpline on 0300 2000 333 or the Missing People charity in confidence on 116 000.