Missing People undertakes in house research and supports external researchers in exploring the issue of missing people. The charity sits on a number of advisory and steering groups for external research projects, contributing its expertise and providing advice and guidance.

In these pages you will find published research reports by Missing People as well as research conducted using information from the charity.

Living in Limbo

Living in Limbo provides an account of the devastating impact that going missing can have on family members left behind, including emotional, social, financial, legal and practical difficulties. The charity has launched a campaign to improve the rights of families of missing people, as a direct result of the findings of the Living in Limbo report. To find out more you can visit the Missing Rights Campaign page. A Research Summary is also available:  Living in Limbo: Summary (1.13 MB)

Lost from View

Lost from View, a publication by the University of York, presents findings from the most extensive study of missing persons yet undertaken in the UK. It provides important new information on the motivations and circumstances of both missing adults and children and is the first study to draw directly on the views and experiences of missing adults themselves.

Learning from Fatal Disappearances

Learning from Fatal Disappearances, published by Missing People, is a study of 250 missing incidents that were closed by the charity over a two year period. Learning from Fatal Disappearances has important implications for many agencies working with missing people, including the charity itself, the police, the wider social care sector and government.

Going missing on a night out: men found dead in water

Learning from fatal disappearances highlighted a specific group of cases involving young men who had gone missing on a night out and were later found dead in water.

Going missing on a night out: men found dead in water is a research summary, produced by Missing People, that gives further details on cases identified in 2010 and in the first four months of 2011.

  Missing on a Night Out (163.28 kB)

Learning from Callers to Runaway Helpline and Message Home

The charity, supported by the Oak Foundation, conducted a two-year study of Runaway Helpline and Message Home. A number of summary reports are available to download by clicking on the following links. Further reports are due in 2012.

 Learning from callers to Runaway Helpline and Message Home (266.95 kB) 

Family Feedback Survey and Caller Feedback Survey

The research team administers two annual surveys of the charity’s service users. The Family Feedback Survey provides a medium for families of missing people to give feedback about the services they have received, and to make recommendations about service development and areas for policy work. The anonymous Caller Feedback Survey allows the charity to gauge callers’ satisfaction with the services provided by our confidential Runaway Helpline and Message Home services. You can download the reports of these surveys by clicking on the following links:

 Family Feedback Survey 2010 (509.28 kB)

 Family Feedback Survey 2011 (605.1 kB)

 Caller Feedback Survey 2011 (257.07 kB)

Current research projects

Missing People is currently working on research about Callers to Runaway Helpline and Message Home, the links between intellectual disabilities and missing, the links between mental illness and missing, and the links between going missing and forced marriage and how these both relate to child sexual exploitation. 

To contact us regarding bespoke research, or for more information about our current projects, please email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or call Lucy Holmes on 020 8392 4591.