If someone goes missing abroad
If a relative or friend goes missing abroad, this Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) guidance tells you what you can do and who to contact.
What you can do if someone goes missing abroad
You should consider:
- when you were expecting contact from them
- if their last communication might indicate where they are or why they have not contacted you
- if they use social media, whether it provides any information that can help to locate or contact them
- contacting anyone who may know their whereabouts, including friends or family of anyone travelling with them
If you are still concerned after checking these points, you should:
1. Report the missing person to the authorities in the country they went missing
Local authorities where a person went missing, usually the local police, are responsible for searching for them.
You should report the case to the authorities in that country so you can make a missing person report.
Processes for reporting a missing person will vary depending on the country. For example, they may not accept a missing person report until a certain amount of time has passed nor accept a report in English. You may have to arrange and pay for a translation service.
2. Report the missing person to the UK police
You should make a missing person report with the police in the UK as well as to the police in country they went missing. You can do this with the local police where you live, or where the missing person lives in the UK.
You can also ask the UK police to inform the National Crime Agency’s (NCA) Interpol bureau. Interpol can liaise with the police abroad.
UK police forces do not usually become involved in an investigation in another country. Even where they are ready to, they can only do this at the invitation of the authorities in that country.
3. Contact the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO)
We can liaise with the authorities in the country the person went missing, keep you informed of progress and pass on any requests they make to UK authorities.
Find out the nearest British embassy, high commission or consulate. The FCDO is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can contact us by telephone, write to us or send us a message on social media.
You can report the person missing to the FCDO at any time: you do not have to wait. Try to provide as much information as possible to us about the missing person, for example:
- name, date of birth and place of birth
- passport details, if known
- the last place, date and time you or anybody else had contact with them
- travel itinerary and who they are travelling with
- whether they have a medical condition
- mobile phone number, email address, social media account
- insurance details, if known
We can:
- check our consular records to see if there has been any recent contact with your relative or friend. But we would need their consent to pass information to you
- provide you with details of organisations specialising in missing persons
- get our consular staff to meet family representatives (for example, in person or by video link), maintain contact with you and tell you about any new developments we find out
- provide information on local conditions and help you arrange meetings with the local authorities. This includes investigating agencies or other relevant organisations locally if you decide to travel abroad to search for your relative or friend
We cannot:
- carry out physical searches on your behalf or fund any searches
- use public funds to try to find people missing abroad
- control media coverage of the case
- share information with you, if the person is found and does not give permission to share their information (see the FCDO’s privacy notice for consular services on how we handle personal data)
- in a worst-case scenario, pay for a body to be returned to the UK
Additional things to consider for people missing abroad
Children
If the missing person is a child, some European countries have an ‘amber alert’ system. Check with the police in that country or the FCDO.
Bank accounts
The missing person’s bank, building society or internet service provider may be able to give you some information on when their account was last accessed. They may require official police intervention before agreeing to do this.
Mobile phones
If you know the missing person’s mobile phone IMEI number (a unique 15 digit code associated with the phone handset), it can sometimes be used by police in other countries to block or locate the phone.
Travelling to the country
If you decide to travel to the region where your relative or friend went missing:
- check the FCDO Travel Advice
- have a clear idea of what you hope to achieve
- consider if language will be a problem, and if you will have to pay for a translator or interpreter
- authorities in other countries may be reluctant to pass on information, or to treat your situation differently to that of other missing persons in their country. The FCDO or UK police cannot insist that they do
- you might want to start a poster, leaflet or social media campaign in the country where they went missing. We can provide information on organisations that have experience in tracing missing persons that can help you do this. We can also tell you about local printing companies and places to put a poster
Searches can sometimes be made public through press conferences or TV appeals either in the UK or in the country where your relative or friend is missing. If you wish to do this abroad, we may be able to advise you on how to do this.
In some countries, it is possible to offer rewards for information. You should be aware of the implications of offering a reward. You may want to discuss this with an organisation that has experience in tracing missing persons.
Some insurance policies will cover search and rescue costs. If you have details of your friend or relative’s insurance, you can contact their insurer to check if this is possible.
Organisations that can provide advice and support
These organisations can offer assistance and information to families of missing people abroad. As independent organisations, the FCDO does not make any endorsement of the organisations or the service offered and cannot be held responsible in any way for their advice and/or any decisions and outcomes that result from this.
- LBT Global, formerly the Lucie Blackman Trust: a UK charity, which supports families and friends of people who are missing abroad
- Missing People: a UK charity dedicated to helping bring missing children and adults back to their families
- Children and Families Across Borders (CFAB): a UK charity working to reunite children and their families separated by international borders
- Look 4 Them: a website with links to UK organisations that can help you find relatives in the UK and in other countries
- organisations that can help to trace family members: for advice on tracing someone you have lost contact with, see the UK Police Lost Contact Factsheet available from the UK Missing Persons Unit
- Missing Persons Family Tracing, The Salvation Army Family tracing service
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British Red Cross: an international tracing and message service to help find missing relatives abroad if they have been separated by war, natural disaster or migration