Missing Person Appeals

[ICTChris]

A missing persons appeal in London has had a strange conclusion, with the person reported missing taking to Facebook to post that hey aren't missing at all.

http://news.sky.com/story/missing-student-isabel-gayther-found-after-facebook-post-10710814

There's rarely a day that goes by without reports of missing people on social media and I've often wondered about them. People are reported missing when they've been gone a few hours - sometimes people are reported missing if they aren't in contact for a morning. Has the ease of communication and the 'check-in' culture of knowing where people are all the time fuelled an unhealthy anxiety where people immediately feel there's something wrong if hey aren't contacted regularly? When I was a student I didn't have a mobile phone and would phone my parents once a week or so, would that be considered acceptable now? Does this inhibit people and reduce their privacy, their space to live a free life? The concerns of others can be suffocating.

On the other hand a friend of mine reported a close relative missing his week and there were genuine concerns for their welfare. They have since returned safely but in that case it seems that the concern was well founded.

Any P&Bers ever been reported missing?

Any P&Bers ever reported anyone missing?

Any P&Bers missing right now, Reggie Perrin style?

[KnightswoodBear]

Everytime I see one of these appeals on twitter or facebook, the first thing that pops into my head is the poster on here (i forget who) that replied to one that was for a missing 16 year old lassie that she was "away getting pumped" after much general outrage, she appeared safe and well and walking like John Wayne.

[Rugster]

6 minutes ago, ICTChris said:

 

 

Any P&Bers missing right now, Reggie Perrin style?

 

Quitongo's Left Peg but that's something to do with shitting out of a charity bet. 

[Adam]

Everytime I see one of these appeals on twitter or facebook, the first thing that pops into my head is the poster on here (i forget who) that replied to one that was for a missing 16 year old lassie that she was "away getting pumped" after much general outrage, she appeared safe and well and walking like John Wayne.

BustaNut, what an amazing Tweet that was.

A girl I know reported her mother missing just before Christmas. Think she was found a few days later, but in a bizarre twist her brother (the mother's brother) died on Christmas Day, which was obviously not nice for them.

[ICTChris]

The BustaNut tweet was amazing.  It's something that has happened a few times - a young person is reported 'missing' after a night-out only to show up on the walk-of shame.  Do people  phone their parents/flatmates and tell them that they are off getting pumped?

Then again, people do disappear on nights out and come to harm - the young man from Fife who disappeared on a night out from his RAF base is a good example, a few years back a Stirling University student died after a night out.  Drunk people often take a wrong turn and end up dying of exposure or accidents, it's easily done.

ETA, the Daily Mail story about the missing person in the original post is a beauty of the genre - "the family of the missing girl recently moved into a £350,000 semi-detached townhouse"  

[Dosser-fae-the-shire]

As soon as I saw the title of this thread the first thing I thought of was Busta's tweet. Pretty sure he said she was probably getting ridden like a rocking horse or something similar. He received various threats and think he had to delete his Twitter account for a few days.

[ICTChris]

Of course, the all time greatest missing person fraud was Karen Matthews, although having watched a documentary about that case I can't really have amazing banter about it.  I don't think I've ever felt as squalid and awful reading about a case and, as noted, I like reading about squalid and awful cases.

[throbber]

As Frankie Boyle said - "the ugly ones always turn up alive."

[Adam]

Of course, the all time greatest missing person fraud was Karen Matthews, although having watched a documentary about that case I can't really have amazing banter about it.  I don't think I've ever felt as squalid and awful reading about a case and, as noted, I like reading about squalid and awful cases.

Even now I cannot comprehend how Karen Matthews and Donovan thought that they would get away with that, having dumped her on a busy street and "finding her" by walking round the corner and taking her to the Police station. It genuinely reads like a plan concocted by a seven year old.

[throbber]

Even now I cannot comprehend how Karen Matthews and Donovan thought that they would get away with that, having dumped her on a busy street and "finding her" by walking round the corner and taking her to the Police station. It genuinely reads like a plan concocted by a seven year old.

The plan was to drop her off then drive round the corner and then find her again. Pretty irresponsible as you could imagine there being dozens of people fighting over the poor girl to get the £50k reward, would be like the scene from Charlie and the Chocolate factory when he discovers the final golden ticket.

[ICTChris]

7 minutes ago, Adam said:

Even now I cannot comprehend how Karen Matthews and Donovan thought that they would get away with that, having dumped her on a busy street and "finding her" by walking round the corner and taking her to the Police station. It genuinely reads like a plan concocted by a seven year old.

 

I don't think you would describe either as a criminal mastermind.

[Adam]

I don't think you would describe either as a criminal mastermind.

Well quite, but it's genuinely one of the stupidest things I ever remember reading. Just a mind-boggingly shite plan.

[Ross.]

Said it before but worth repeating, I am glad my teenage to 23ish years were before social media. I went missing for days on end countless times.

[ICTChris]

1 minute ago, Adam said:

Well quite, but it's genuinely one of the stupidest things I ever remember reading. Just a mind-boggingly shite plan.

 

I remember the documentary after the trial, when they found Shannon Matthews, she was under social services care and they gave her drawing materials to draw pictures to help her remember.  One of the first pictures she drew was of her mother having sex with Donovan, which they think she did because they did this while she was in the room.  They also analysed her hair and found that she'd been given temazapam for a long period.  Analysis of the hair showed that the doses rose during the school holidays, indicating that rather than look after her children when they were off during the summer and Christmas Karen Matthews drugged them.

On the bright side, she probably has a better life now.  

[throbber]

Said it before but worth repeating, I am glad my teenage to 23ish years were before social media. I went missing for days on end countless times.

I feel the same - the only thing I wish was around then was Tinder.

[blanco]

1 hour ago, Dosser-fae-the-shire said:

As soon as I saw the title of this thread the first thing I thought of was Busta's tweet. Pretty sure he said she was probably getting ridden like a rocking horse or something similar. He received various threats and think he had to delete his Twitter account for a few days.

Young women can't go anywhere to get rode raw for a couple of days without social media search parties turning up. 

The poor girl in Manchester, Louise maloney, had the ultimate walk of shame with her sister crying on the national news when all she'd done was went on the lash with a strange man for a couple of days  Wonder if the boyfriends forgiven her yet?

 

 

[Ross.]

3 minutes ago, blanco said:

Young women can't go anywhere to get rode raw for a couple of days without social media search parties turning up. 

The poor girl in Manchester, Louise maloney, had the ultimate walk of shame with her sister crying on the national news when all she'd done was went on the lash with a strange man for a couple of days  Wonder if the boyfriends forgiven her yet?

Missed this one when it happened but just read a little about it. "We're not ready to talk about where she was" is the quote attributed to the boyfriend.

Generally I have sympathy in these situations, girls are as entitled as guys to get leathered and spend a couple of days in bed with a stranger, but this girl had 2 kids that were left with a babysitter. In this case she deserves the publicity, as would any guy who done the same in the circumstances.

[Ross.]

9 minutes ago, throbber said:

I feel the same - the only thing I wish was around then was Tinder.

Tinder would have been handy but the Yahoo chat rooms were generally decent for finding a dirty.

[throbber]

Tinder would have been handy but the Yahoo chat rooms were generally decent for finding a dirty.

Yeah - was always better knowing had your foot in the door rather than chancing your luck on a night out.

If you are going awol for a while then it's courtesy just to send someone a message saying you're out on a mad one. At least people
know you are alive and it avoids a social media campaign which can be very damaging for a person if they are in a sensitive way.

[Mark Connolly]

17 minutes ago, throbber said:

 

Yeah - was always better knowing had your foot in the door rather than chancing your luck on a night out.

If you are going awol for a while then it's courtesy just to send someone a message saying you're out on a mad one. At least people
know you are alive and it avoids a social media campaign which can be very damaging for a person if they are in a sensitive way.

The reliance on mobile phones is an issue here - I'd be surprised if anyone under the age of 20 knew their home or parents' mobile numbers off by heart. As soon as someone's phone is dead, they are effectively out of the game.