Missing People-I thought it might be a good time to talk about this subject. We all take so much forn granted, until it is taken away. Christmas time....we reflect on the year gone by, all that has happened all that has been. We have those who are fortunate to have a Christmas without incident, maybe the odd argument, but hey, that's part of being in a family.
Imagine if your Christmas had no family...many people this year will notice loved ones missing from their gathering. It could be due to the death of a loved one, a break-down in communication where members refuse to appear, or they may really be, 'missing'.....Every year in Australia, 30,000 people are missing from their homes, their loved ones. Trying to get through the festive season is just a sad reminder of their absence making it almost impossible to feel any Christmas Spirit. The article below focuses on the recent re-appearance of John Darwin.....but every case is different, to a degree.
This Christmas, I intend to place a very special gift beneath my tree, a prayer for God, one that will ask he help reunite just one family with a missing family member. Imagine if we all tried this? There is power in numbers, and imagine the gift we could be giving when that prayer is answered?! It isn't going to cost you anything, and only takes a pen/pencil and a piece of paper/card.......Dear Lord, while we are grateful for all that we have, we ask you look around to the homes that have loved ones missing from their lives, and help guide that loved one back to their door...Amen
Merry Christmas!
Lord Lucan, before he went missing.
· Around 600 people go missing every day; which amounts to some 210,000 people a year. Around 99% of missing cases are resolved within one year.
· People who go missing for longer periods of time tend to be older men.
· Between the ages of 13 and 17, it is more likely for females to go missing. Over the age of 24, it is more common for males to disappear.
· Figures from a study by Missing People showed that around two-thirds of missing adults had deliberately chosen to leave.
Article continues
· Some 20% of those who had gone missing returned to the place they had left, a study from the Missing Persons database suggested in 2003. Around 40% of found adults chose not to contact those who were looking for them.
· The main reasons for adults to go missing include a relationship breakdown, to escape from a crisis, and stress or mental health problems such as depression.
(Source: Missing People)
Famous missing persons cases
· In April 2005, a young man was found wandering around Sheerness, in Kent, dressed in a wet suit and tie. Although he did not speak a word, he grabbed international headlines after he gave virtuoso performances of classical music at a piano in the Medway maritime hospital's chapel, earning the nickname "Piano Man". He was later revealed to be Andreas Grassl, a 20-year-old man from Prosford in Germany who was suffering from depression. Gressl was taken back to his home in August of the same year.
· Stephen Fry disappeared for 11 days in 1995 after suffering an attack of stage fright. The comic was then starring in a West End play called Cell Mates, which had been badly received by critics. Fry later said that during the time of his disappearance he contemplated suicide and escaped to Belgium, before returning to the UK a week later to be diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
· John Stonehouse, a former Labour politician, went missing after he faked his own death in 1974 by leaving a pile of his clothes on a beach in Miami. In actuality, he escaped to Australia under the pseudonym of JD Norman to live with his secretary, Sheila Buckley. He was found on Christmas Eve of the same year by Melbourne police, who had received a tip-off that he was Lord Lucan. Stonehouse was eventually sent back to Britain to face a seven-year jail sentence for fraud, theft and deception.
· One of the most famous missing persons stories remains that of Richard Bingham, the 7th Earl of Lucan. On November 8 1974, the nanny of Lucan's children was found murdered at the family home. Lady Lucan had also been attacked. When the police went to find Lucan at his home, he had disappeared. To this day, he has yet to be found, although there have been claims of sightings around the world.
· The Austrian schoolgirl Natascha Kampusch went missing on March 2 1998 when she was ten years old. Eight years later, she re-emerged, having been kidnapped by IT technician Wolfgang Priklopil and imprisoned in his house during that time. She had managed to escape from him and was later reunited with her parents. Priklopil committed suicide while being chased by police.
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