A race against time
IN BRITAIN, someone is reported missing every two minutes – a statistic that is both remarkable and astonishing. And that’s a good way to describe this series, which goes behind the scenes of police forces as they search for missing persons.
It’s tense and upsetting to watch, giving just a tiny window into the unimaginable worry and despair which must be felt by those people’s loved ones, as they wait for news and try not to imagine the worst.
It’s also an insight into how difficult a job it is for the officers, as they painstakingly try to recreate someone’s movements and search for any clues which could help, knowing that there won’t always be a happy ending and a tearful reunion.
Tonight’s case is that of Jean Lloyd – a Wirral pensioner who left her house to catch the bus to her local doctor’s surgery, then seemed to completely vanish.
The 77-year-old lives with her son Edward and has never spent a night away from home before, so when she fails to return, after several hours, he starts to worry.
As the hours turn into days, and they have no eye witnesses or concrete leads, the police are very worried too. The local community rallies – forming search parties, knocking on doors, putting up posters.
And Cheshire police use every means possible – sending up the helicopter to search nearby marshland, calling in the Search and Rescue and specialist underwater teams.
But, as time goes on, it looks less and less hopeful.