03 Dec Missing Persons Guide Launched

Media Release, 18 November 2013

Missing Persons Advocacy Network (MPAN) has today launched the Missing Persons Guide – a world-first, online resource for families of missing persons – www.missingpersonsguide.com.

The guide will help families during the crucial first 48 hours of when a loved one goes missing, through to support for families of the long-term missing. It includes a toolkit of templates to simply and easily create missing persons posters and media releases; step-by-step advice around raising awareness for the missing person through avenues such as social media; and details of support networks.

MPAN founder Loren O’Keeffe knows all too well the devastation and hopelessness that comes with having a missing loved one. Her brother, Daniel O’Keeffe, disappeared more than two years ago from their family home in Geelong, Victoria.

“We didn’t know what to do when Dan disappeared. We reported him as a missing person to the police, but we weren’t given any advice on what to do next. There were no resources; no support groups in Victoria,” Loren recalls.

“As Dan’s case wasn’t deemed suspicious, it added another level of difficulty. Going missing isn’t a crime, and so while the police were on the lookout for Dan, we knew they couldn’t be actively searching for him as we needed them to. We knew it would be up to us, Dan’s family, to find him, but we simply didn’t know where to start,” says Loren.

For the 35,000 Australian families who are faced with the agonising disappearance of a loved one each year, there has been a noticeable gap in support services.

“I was astounded that there wasn’t a central place that families of missing persons could go to for help and advice, or even just to talk about the experience with other families and feel that you aren’t alone. Ultimately, it was our Dan Come Home campaign on social media that connected me to other families who had been through, or were going through, the same thing. Speaking with them really highlighted that gap in support,” said Loren.

The Missing Persons Guide, designed by Loren with the input of five other families who have been through this experience, will help to fill that gap.

“When someone you love vanishes, it’s such an overwhelming experience. You’re distressed, you’re confused and you don’t think clearly. I remember the first thing we did was make missing persons posters. We were so frantic we printed a whole bunch without realising we hadn’t even included a contact number,” Loren said.

As a newly established non-profit organisation, the Missing Persons Guide is MPAN’s foundation project.

“If the Guide can give hope to any one of the tens of thousands of families who go through this each year, it’s worthwhile. If something like this had existed when my brother disappeared the difference to my state of mind would have been huge,” says Loren.

A key contributor to the Missing Persons Guide has been Charlie Shunick, older sister of Mickey Shunick, who disappeared in what became a high profile murder case in the United States. In researching the support other countries provide to families of missing persons, Loren came across the “Bring Mickey Home” campaign led by Charlie, and the two soon became pen pals.

Charlie has travelled to Australia to support the launch of the Missing Persons Guide, and recognises its significance.

“We needed something like this in the United States. From that very first day when Mickey didn’t come home, we needed some kind of direction, and to know that there were other people out there who had been through what we were going through. It’s disappointing that governments don’t make this a priority,” says Charlie.

Loren’s frustration at the lack of support services available during the search for her brother was not unique, evidenced by the many families of missing persons who made contact with Loren following the success of the Dan Come Home campaign. This led her to establish MPAN – Australia’s first organisation devoted to offering practical support to the families of missing persons – in early 2013.

MPAN is a non-profit organisation with the objective of offering hope and practical support to families with missing loved ones, and raising awareness for missing persons in Australia. MPAN seeks corporate partnerships to raise visibility for missing persons, and to lessen the financial impact on families actively searching for a loved one.