THE TRAGIC COST OF MISSING PERSONS

THERE are various estimates of the financial hit grief delivers to the economy each year beyond the immediate, often devastating, impacts to individuals, families and communities.

The dollar figure is in the billions – probably in the teens – and the tragedy of Covid-19 made outcomes even worse over the past couple of years.

What economists do not measure is the equivalent costs for those gripped with the despair and uncertainty of a missing loved one.

The unimaginable sadness caused by the loss of a missing loved one coupled with the desire to know what caused the loss is an unfair burden to be placed on anyone.

Of course, some people do not want to be found, but those left behind do not know this and, even if they did, it would not change the sense of numbness and melancholy that is left when loss strikes home.

National Missing Persons Week starts on Sunday and this year’s theme for the digital awareness campaign is Without Them.

This simple yet touching acknowledgment of loss and hope conveys a message that behind the despair the missing are not also the forgotten.

In the NT, this year’s campaign features 30 Territorians who have gone missing over several decades for whom there is still a vestige of hope that their location can be identified.

As Acting Assistant Commissioner Jason Kennedy, who is overseeing Missing Persons Week, said: “Young, old, family members and loved ones all from a range of cultures have one thing in common – the daily fears, hopes and endless questions they leave behind.”

The 30 have either vanished from their homes or while travelling and come from a range of backgrounds, ages, genders and ethnicities.

It is interesting to note a large proportion of those reported missing in the Territory were last seen along the Stuart Highway and that more than half of the cases vanished from the Top End region, perhaps reflecting population distribution in the Territory.

According to Australian Federal Police, the groups most at risk of going missing are children and youths, people with depression or dementia, the elderly and people expressing suicidal thoughts or who have an intellectual or physical disability.

This week take note of the descriptions provided of the missing and share any appropriate information with police.