Revealed: How many people went missing from your area in 2016?

Figures released by the Metropolitan Police showed the number of people from the capital’s 32 boroughs who vanished, last year. The total also includes absconders from care as well as those who are mentally ill.

Total number of people that have been reported as missing across south London in 2016

Croydon had the highest number of cases with 3,942 individuals being reported missing. Of those missing 3,056 were teenagers and 21 were children under five years old.

Police did, however, disclose that 3,035 of the teenagers and all 21 of the children under five were found.

In contrast Richmond recorded the lowest figures in south London with 603 people being registered as missing, four of whom were children under 5 and 349 were aged between 13 and 19.

Number of teenagers that have been reported as missing across south London in 2016

A spokeswoman for the Met Police explained why Croydon ranked highest and said: “The figures are high because it has a very high number of children’s care homes compared to other boroughs and that is why their numbers are higher for teenagers especially.”

The Met Police spokeswoman added: “We currently investigate around 55,000 missing person cases each year.

“Each report of a missing person is recorded, risk assessed and investigated. They are graded as high, medium or low risk, which determines the level of response and resources allocated to locate the individual. Investigations start as soon as a report is made to police and the majority of missing people are located within one day, safe and well. As the figures show, the Met has a high success rate in concluding the majority of missing person cases.

“Those that are not located remain as open cases and are subject to regular review and action. Every borough has a dedicated ‘missing persons unit’ which is staffed with experienced and skilled officers. They are generally responsible for ongoing investigations. However, those cases deemed high risk are led by detectives from the Criminal Investigation Department and are overseen by members of the borough's senior leadership team. On being located, all missing adults and children are de-briefed to establish the reasons for, and details of, their absence.

“The Missing Persons Co-ordinators Unit is currently actively working with care homes, local authorities, NHS trusts etc across the Met to work together in partnership to reduce the number of missing episodes. By ensuring appropriate safeguarding is in place for those persons reported missing our aim is to prevent them going missing again in the future and therefore reduce the risk of harm coming to them.”

Number of children under five that have been reported as missing across south London in 2016

Charity Missing People has said people who disappear are ‘almost all vulnerable’. The organisation estimates that up to 80 per cent of missing adults have mental health issues and that four in every 10 adults with dementia disappear ‘at some point’.

It also added the most common reasons why children go missing is due to abuse, neglect and conflict at home.

The National Crime Agency has said about 4 per cent of people come to some form of harm while they are missing, although the charity said it was significantly underestimated as reported crimes are recorded on a separate database to the missing person.

Susannah Drury, director of policy and research at Missing People, said “When someone goes missing it is nearly always a sign that something is wrong. The high number of people, especially children, who are reported missing more than once, shows that it is crucial to have a framework in place to prevent people being vulnerable to harm by going missing again and again.

“This should include one to one support for children and adults who have returned from being missing as well as excellent inter-agency work between professionals. Working together, we could break the cycle and provide better support.”