By Elaine Zupancic
Each year the Denver Police Department Missing Persons Unit handles approximately 2,500 runaway minor children cases involving 1800 people under the age of 21. (Many run away more than once.) Ninety-nine percent of these minors are either found or return on their own.
What to do if one of those children is yours? First, CALL 911. Contrary to popular belief THERE IS NO WAITING PERIOD FOR REPORTING RUNAWAYS. A uniformed officer will come to you and take a report. The child’s name will then be entered in the NCIC (National Crime Information Center) data base. You will be given the name of one of the two detectives on the unit as your contact person. If you wish, the detective can also make up Missing Person posters for you to distribute.
In the City and County of Denver approximately 400 adults go missing each year. The reporting process is the same as for juveniles, although because it is not illegal for adults to go off on their own there is not much the police can do other than report back if the person is found. An exception to this is if the person has mental health problems, in which case they can be taken to Denver Health for a 72 hour observation hold.
The unit also runs Colorado Care Trak, a program in which people with a tendency to walk away and get lost (e.g., Alzheimer’s patients, autistic people, etc.) wear a radio transmitter. The caregiver can call 911 and a detective will come out with a receiver and more quickly track down the missing person. If you are the caregiver for such a person, you can call Missing Persons for more information.
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