National Missing Person Day:

National Missing Persons Day is observed on February 3rd every year to raise awareness about the hundreds of unsolved missing person cases across the United States.

Twitter Hashtags:

#NationalMissingPersonDay

#MissingPersonDay

Related: Other National Days Celebrated on February 3rd:

National Day the Music Died Day

National Carrot Cake Day

National Women Physicians Day

Why National Missing Person Day?

The loss of a person is truly the greatest pain that could be. Added to this loss, the fact that a loved one is in a place you don’t know, and the fact that you cannot reach out to them or even know if they are doing fine or not can be incredibly frustrating. Everyone has daily contact with a parent, mother, sibling, infant, neighbor, or coworker. Nobody expects them to vanish from their lives mysteriously and without explanation. It’s such a baffling thought to entertain. It is so difficult to contemplate that it is difficult to entice others who are unfamiliar with the missing person to become involved.

Inevitably, it is not something we can prepare ourselves for. We truly never know when or how a loved one could go missing. And just like that, we cannot determine or know who will be that person. When a person goes missing, it is just as likely to be an adult as it is to be an infant. Women are more likely to vanish than men, and seniors are also at risk. Health risks, natural disasters, unforeseeable situations, and, of course, held against will, are a few events that usually constitute and dominate the list of figures. Any one of these could be applicable to us.

We are fortunate to have the boon of widespread hyper-connectivity and networks due to the internet and social media. As opposed to a more laborious process of the past, social media has greatly eased out the numerous ways to render our help to the families suffering such a loss.

Neighbors and friends are needed by the families of those who have gone missing. They’ll need your help to keep looking and spreading the word. Plan for your own family at the same time. Make it a top priority to learn and be informed about the multiple ways that the power and reach of social media can be leveraged for helping spot, gather information, and spread the word about missing people.

National Missing Persons Day, therefore, aims at raising awareness about all the missing person cases that still lay unsolved and subsequently urges and encourages citizens to be on the lookout for missing people, to share their names and photos, and to return them to their families. This is much more helpful than one would expect. The government is known to gain a lot of insightful and life-saving information by way of the calls and emails they receive on this day. Needless to say, this day has proved truly effective in helping to solve cases and pick up potential leads from an audience so wide, the police department could never dream of accumulating and questioning physically.

How can we Observe National Missing Person Day:

1. Check dedicated websites and understand all the tools you have to help.
2. Look at the government’s official post containing pictures of all the people who have gone missing to check if you might recognize a face. Take your time, do not rush through them.
3. If and when you recognize someone from the list, get in touch with the designated authorities and tell them whatever you know.
4. If you find anyone from your social media posting about a missing person. Spread that message as much as you can through your social media.
5. Use the hashtag #NationalMissingPersonsDay and #MissingPersonDay when you share a post on social media.

Interesting Facts about National Missing Person Day:

1. Approximately 2,300 people go missing each day in the US.
2. According to the National Crime Information Center, there were 85,459 active missing person reports as of December 31, 2018.
3. In addition to the above figures, 29,758 of the incidents involved teenagers aged 18 or younger.
4. Contrary to a widespread myth that one must wait 24 hours before reporting a missing person, police departments insist on the importance of timely reporting.
5. A large number of people take to their social media and post specially made posters, images, and videos to help find a missing person.

History of National Missing Person Day:

The extensive history and founding of this day are largely unknown. It shares a deep conceptual connection and possibly the history of conception with National Missing Children’s Day commemorated on May 25, 1983.