Missing

The National Missing Persons Centre (CNDES), under the Ministry of the Interior, is the centralized management body for the effective and permanent coordination of the missing persons system used by law enforcement authorities. It also acts as a contact point for the development of cooperation measures with Public Administrations and other relevant public and private institutions and organizations, both national and international, including representative organizations of the sector and the media, whose participation is essential for the eventual dissemination of warnings, alerts or requests seeking the assistance of the public.

The CNDES is also responsible for analysing and evaluating the proposals of the relatives of missing persons, and any other issue that may be of interest with regard to the Missing Persons and Unidentified Human Remains (PDyRH) system and for improving the action protocols within the field of disappearances.

• Do I have to wait 24 hours before reporting a missing person?

  The report must be made in the shorten time possible from the moment a person goes missing. That is why you should not wait 24 hours to report a disappearance.

• What should I do if a person goes missing?

  If you believe that a relative, a close person or someone you know is missing, you must report the Law Enforcement Agencies as soon as possible .

  However, once you have established a person is missing and before making the report, you should first search the home address or the place where the person missing was last time seen in order to check that the person is not hidden, cannot move due to a fall or other circumstances (the person is injured, etc.), particularly in cases of minors and the elderly.

• What basic information should I provide when reporting?

  When reporting a missing person you should provide all the information required by the Law Enforcement Agencies responsible for the investigation so as to facilitate the search and recovery of the individual. Therefore, before making the report you should have some basic information such as:

  • Forename(s), last name(s) and date of birth of the missing person.
  • Day, time and place the person went missing or was last seen.
  • Physical description (height, weight, hair and eye colour, etc.) and things the person was wearing when last seen (clothes, jewellery, glasses, etc.).
  • Recent photograph .
  • If the person is suffering from any neurodegenerative disease, has any type of impairment (mental, physical, sensory or intellectual), lacks autonomy (elderly people, persons with mobility problems, any physical disability or medical condition, etc.)
  • If the person is following a medical treatment or is taking any type of vital medication .
  • Depending on the case, any other relevant information.
• I have personal hygiene items of the missing person, how should i keep them?

  If you have personal hygiene items of the missing person you should not touch them and you will have to follow the instructions given by the Law Enforcement Officers responsible for the investigation.

• How long does an investigation last ?

  Law Enforcement Agencies keep investigations open until the facts are completely resolved. For that reason, there is not a legal period of time determining how long a police investigation must last.

• The missing person has been seen somewhere else, do I have to lodge another complaint in that place?

  No, you do not have to. You simply should report any new piece of information you might have regarding the missing person to the Law Enforcement Agencies to which the complaint was submitted.

• What is the AMBER Alert?

  It is a system that, through mass media, agencies and bodies with appropriate broadcasting technology, issues alerts and makes appeals for the public to cooperate in those cases of kidnapped minors for which the activation of an alert is deemed necessary.

• What is the Adult Missing Alert System ?

  It is a system that issues alerts and makes appeals for the general population to collaborate and that may be activated for some cases of missing adults suffering from cognitive impairment, mental disorders, neurodegenerative diseases, or disabled persons, elderly people, etc.

• Who can accede to the Collaboration convention to broadcast alerts of the AMBERT Alert System and the Adult Missing Alert System ?

  Any well-established broadcasting mass media, public or private body or agency wishing to accede to the Collaboration Convention to Broadcast Appeals for Collaboration of the Population through the Early Alert System for Missing Minors.