There are roughly 1,000 people of all ages missing in Ohio on any given day.
Some disappeared hours ago and may be found or return home quickly. Others have been missing for days, months and years, often with little police or media attention. Very few are ever the subject of an Amber Alert or any type of police release for help.
The 1,000 number got my attention when Dispatch Reporters Max Filby and Danae King first pitched today’s investigative report on missing people across Ohio. Their work since that meeting several months ago led to several revelations detailed today in VANISHED, an exclusive new five-part series .
Filby and King found authorities often boast about high recovery rates for missing persons while many families paint a much different picture, saying they’ve been left without answers. Some accuse police of bungling cases, claiming they struggle to even get responding officers to take reports, let alone actively search for people. They also found police often fail to follow federal law requiring names to be submitted to a federal database.