Mother, brother and sister of a man who disappeared from an old people’s home in werdohl in mid december are saddened: they firmly believe that their alcoholic and mentally impaired relative is dead.
However, the family wonders, why the man reported missing to the police was not searched for with helicopters or tracking dogs, for example.
for reasons of protecting the personal rights of the missing person, only a few details may be given here about the circumstances under which the man disappeared. While the mother in the well-known facebook group "blitzer, verkehr und mehr im Markischen kreis" (speed cameras, traffic and more in the Markischer Kreis) with a photo and under naming of the clear name their son searches, has the police did not issue a public missing person report.
Disappeared from a senior citizens’ facility
The man who has not yet reached 40. the man, who has reached the age of 18, had disappeared from one of werdohl’s senior facilities in mid december. Like many residents, he was not restricted in his rights of freedom, so he was allowed to move freely. During his stay at the werdohl facility, the man was frequently seen in town. He originally came from another town in the Markischer kreis, but basically had no fixed abode. What his mother and brother say.
anyway, they are surprised that were informed by the police only two days after the disappearance of their son and brother. Due to his severe alcoholism and his way of life, he has also had a legal guardian, a so-called professional guardian, for a long time.
Seeking shelter in enclosed facility
This caretaker had only recently sought to have his client placed in a locked facility. In a letter, he maintained that the housing was necessary, because the man is self-endangered and can cause considerable damage to his health.
When and by what means is a person searched for??
Police press officer christoph huls says nothing about the specific case of the man who disappeared from a werdohl senior citizens’ facility in mid-december for reasons of personal privacy protection. His explanations of how the police generally deal with missing persons reports are generally valid and not related to the specific case.
every case of a missing person report is taken very seriously by the police, the disappearance of people is always dramatic for the relatives. How the missing person is searched for, however, is a matter of consideration. Two criteria are paramount: the protection of personal rights and the determination of whether there is an acute danger to the life and limb of the missing person or to other people.
Every adult has the right to live the way he wants to. Every adult can simply disappear and has the right to stay undetected in a place of his or her own choosing. Searching relatives would not be informed, for example, if the police encountered the wanted person who did not want his relatives to know.
In many cases, it is forbidden for reasons of personal privacy to publicly search for the person with a photo and name. In other cases, on the other hand, it is necessary to search for people immediately with a hundred teams, dogs and helicopters in order to counteract an immediate danger to life. All police search measures would also have to be adapted to the individual situation.
Huls emphasized that in the search for missing persons, each case is assessed individually, but action is always taken immediately. In addition, there are police search measures that are not openly communicated.
The mother reports something similar: her son was an alcoholic and had often enough been picked up off the street by the police in earlier places and later also in werdohl. The man was destitute except for a minimal pocket money. He always converted the small amounts handed to him into alcohol.
Evidence and reports from witnesses
Mother, brother and professional guardian had contacted the police on christmas, almost two weeks after the disappearance of the man. There were indications, on the basis of which one believed, where the sought could be. These indications had been investigated, it was said it at the police, there had also been reports of witnesses who thought they had seen the missing man. The mother: „many knew my son in werdohl by sight.“ Before his stay in a werdohl senior citizens’ facility, the wanted man had been staying with a friend in the town on the lenne and verse rivers.
The older brother lives in another town in the Markischer kreis and went on the search personally. He rattled off gas stations, stores and establishments in the pedestrian zone of Werdohl. He had visited his brother regularly at the senior citizens’ facility. Both had a good relationship, that can be seen at least on photos.
No ID and cell phone
The family also searched in another town in the district where the missing person had been staying before his stay in Werdohl. There he was personally known to alcoholics anonymous for a longer period of time.
The missing person often lived outside, never carried any identification and refused to take a cell phone with him. The brother had given him a cell phone, but he had thrown it away and swallowed the sim card. He had left the home only very lightly dressed, the brother had found his jacket in the vicinity of the facility.
Personal rights must be respected
Despite all the circumstances, the man’s personal rights must be respected in public. Since the man has not been deprived of his liberty rights, he is allowed to go wherever he likes. Because he was not carrying a cell phone, the police said in a reply to the family, a technical search for the missing person makes no sense.
Missing persons: Falling number of cases
Police spokesman huls announced that the number of missing persons cases in the markischer kreis has decreased in the corona years. In 2019, there were 693 missing persons cases, almost two per day in purely arithmetical terms. In 2020 there were 574 and in 2021 the number dropped to 445. The figures show that missing persons cases are not a side business for the police, but a daily practice. Many cases were resolved quickly, but there were also a number of long-term missing persons.
The family still can’t understand why they didn’t start looking for the missing person right from the beginning. Just in the time around the turn of the year they have read of many public missing persons searches in the lenne valley. Disappeared persons, even of the same age as their loved one, had been searched for with helicopters, police dogs and many task forces.
Private publication is shared many times
The private publication of the search in the group "blitzer, traffic and more in the Markischer kreis", has been shared by members several hundred times. The family has now given up hope: "we assume he is dead".“ The mother had already lost a son to alcohol years ago.