Welcome to Someone is Missing – An Emotional Resource for the Families and Friends of Missing Persons. This resource has been developed to provide you, as a family member or friend of a missing person, with information about the impact of unresolved or ambiguous loss and the impact this may have on your emotional wellbeing. It recognises that you – and your loved one who is missing – may experience significant mental health impacts and these should not be overlooked or trivialised in any way. The information included in this resource provides insights into your experiences, as well as practical coping strategies that may assist you in living with the loss of a loved one.

This resource is special because it offers information not typically provided by other resources. This is not a practical resource to assist you in searching for a loved one (some organisations that might be able to help with this are listed in Chapter seven).

The community primarily has a limited understanding of the term mental health, usually associating it with psychological problems. Just as we all experience different degrees of health, we all experience different degrees of mental health. It is important to understand mental health in its broadest meaning. It includes both positive experiences, like happiness and contentment, as well as negative experiences, like the stress and strain you may feel because someone you care about is missing.

This resource offers only an introduction to mental health matters. You are encouraged to talk to other people about your experiences and concerns - including General Practitioners, the providers of mental health services, specialised missing persons support agencies, your family members and friends, as well as other people who are affected by the disappearance of a loved one. Further details about available sources of support are included in Chapter seven.

There is no common definition of missing persons universally accepted across all agencies and the community. However, the following are two nationally agreed definitions, the first is used by Australian police and the second is a more "consumer friendly", broader definition:

Law enforcement definition:
“… someone whose whereabouts is unknown, and there are serious concerns for their safety and welfare.” (James, Anderson & Putt, 2007)

Consumer friendly definition:
“ Missing is when you are concerned because you can't find someone.” (National Advisory Committee on Missing Persons, 2002).

In most cases, you or one of your family or friends will have already made a missing persons report to your local Police station. You are entitled to do so as soon as you become concerned for teh safety and welfare of your loved one. Whilst the primary role of the police is to assist you in your search and to carry out their own investigation into the disappearance, it is also important, both for the sake of the effectiveness of the search itself and to minimise the distress that you will be experiencing, (ie. for your wellbeing) that communications between yourself and the police are clear, timely and effective. If you made your missing persons report in NSW, the police taking your report should have given you a brief brochure about the support offered by the Families and Friends of missing persons unit. This brochure can help you through your early experiences and many of the topics raised in that brochure are dealt with in more detail in this publication. If you have not been provided with this brochure you can access it electronically via www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/missingpersons

However, if you feel you would like to seek further clarification about the investigation, you can also cntact the NSW Police Missing Persons Unit (which is responsible for coordination of missing person's cases in NSW) or the Families and Friends of Missing Persons Unit of the Attorney General's Department (contact details for both in Chaper seven). It is important for your health and wellbeing that you are well informed about the ongoing investigations and that you can access support to assist you.

If you live outside NSW please refer to the National Missing Persons Coordination Centre website www.missingpersons.gov.au

The resource is divided into seven chapters:

Chapter One: You are not alone
The first chapter looks at how many people go missing in Australia each year. This chapter demonstrates the complexities around why people go missing as well as identifying the causes and rates of location that may be of comfort to you.

Chapter Two: Understanding Your Experiences
The second chapter provides information to help you develop a greater understanding of your personal responses to the disappearance of a loved one. It recognises how traumatic it can be when a loved one is missing, and that personal responses can be complex and ambiguous. This is demonstrated through the lived experiences shared by some other family and friends of missing persons.

Chapter Three: Common Mental Health Issues
The third chapter offers further detail about particular mental health experiences that can be attributed to the disappearance of a loved one.

It explores the mental health issues commonly experienced by the family members and friends of missing persons, as well as suggested coping strategies. These mental health issues may either be a direct response to a loved one being missing, or existing conditions may be triggered by the stressful event.

This chapter also explores what the family members and friends of missing persons may experience when a loved one is missing for an extended period of time.

Chapter Four: Reconnecting
An overwhelming majority of missing people are located. Chapter Four explores some of the issues surrounding both short-term and long-term disappearances. It commences by discussing the possible issues that arise when a loved one is located.

Chapter Five: Long Term Missing Persons
Chapter Five offers some detail about what can occur when a loved one remains missing. The chapter details the impact of the ongoing investigation as well as some self-care strategies to cope with the unresolved nature of your loss.

Chapters Six: Sources of Information and Support
In the final chapters a list of various sources of support and information are provided. The diversity included in this list attempts to ensure that multiple needs are catered for.

We hope that this resource offers you the information that might be lacking in existing materials for the family members and friends of missing persons. However, the usefulness of this resource depends solely on one factor – your feedback. We are keen to ensure that this resource meets the special needs of the family members and friends of missing persons. Yet, we can only do this with your advice. If some of the content in this publication is of little use, or perhaps you know of other information that should be included, please contact us. We warmly welcome your feedback – whether it be positive or negative.

Although this resource may appear lengthy and overwhelming we encourage you to use it as you need. This may mean reading only those parts that are of interest to you, and revisiting the resource at later stages of your personal journey. No matter how you decide to use this resource, there is one message we hope to convey:

Despite the emotional turmoil and heartache associated with the disappearance of a loved one, you can survive – whatever the outcome.

The Families and Friends of Missing Persons Unit (FFMPU), within the Department of Justice and Attorney General wants to improve the response of service providers to those people who reach out for assistance following the disappearance of a missing person.

This flier promotes a survey for those who are, or have been, affected by the loss of a missing person. It is anticipated that the survey will reveal the range of agencies that families have requested assistance from, as well as the identified support that families believe should be in place when they need assistance. The results of the survey will assist in the development of guidelines for service providers.