The first day of an international conference on missing people began on Wednesday, bringing together a host of experts in the field.
The event, hosted by Abertay University, will see academics, police experts and policy makers from around the world gather for a three-day seminar in which it is hoped the pooling of knowledge will help find solutions to serious missing person issues.
One of the key aspects of the conference is on how better to understand the “return process” by speaking to former missing people.
It’s hoped that gaining an in-depth understanding on this process will help reveal why upwards of 300,000 people go missing across the UK every year.
Conference organiser, Dr Penny Woolnough of Abertay University, said it was important to make sure those in the field worked closely to understand and analyse why people go missing.
She said: “There’s a common thread that runs through all of this and that’s why it’s important for agencies to come together and thrash out how we can make advances.
“Mental health issues are an important factor and there are others issues that depend on age and sex – that’s part of the challenge for those charged with responding to missing people.
“Another element being explored is how we can use scientific methods and new technology to change the way we understand and respond to missing people.
“At the conference we also have four families who are sharing their stories about relatives who have gone missing.
“The personal aspect can be very emotive and very difficult but these families can be quite resourceful in aiding the effort to find their loved ones.”
Wednesday featured key note speeches from DNA Unit co-ordinator at Interpol, Dr Susan Hitchin, and Professor of Anatomy and Forensic Anthropology at Dundee University, Dame Sue Black.
Professor Black said she hoped ideas on how to make advances in the field would “flow” as the conference went on.
She said: “We are a fairly small community of academics so it’s a great opportunity to have everybody in the same space.
“We hope that over the three days we will have more and more ideas coming out which will ultimately help those who are affected by missing people.”
The seminar will continue today with details on children who go missing during migration, Dementia ‘walkers’, and detailed insight from organisations such as Police Scotland.
