Don't hesitate to report missing loved ones

PALMER -- If someone close to you doesn't show up where or when they should, time may be of the essence in ensuring their safe recovery, according to an Alaska State Trooper who delivered a speech Tuesday to the Palmer Lions Club.

The primary misconception about reporting missing persons, said David Hanson, who works for the troopers' missing-persons division, is that there is a waiting period that must pass before reporting the case (or potential case) to local authorities. Time is often crucial when recovering missing persons, and time spent waiting for a nonexistent period to expire will often do more harm than good.

"If someone should be home at a certain time and they're not, then call," Hanson said in his Tuesday presentation.

Aedene Arthur with the Lions also emphasized this fact. "There needs to be an effort by the troopers to get the message across: don't wait when reporting missing people."

According to Hanson, the job of locating missing people on the Last Frontier is sometimes a daunting one.

"Alaska presents some really unique challenges as far as missing persons are concerned," he said. "There's a whole lot of ways to get lost out here. In New York City, you might get lost by taking a wrong subway or something. Here, it's hunting, it's fishing, it's snowmachining."

Since the launch of the troopers' Missing Persons Clearinghouse in 1986, 59,026 Alaskans have been reported missing -- roughly 10 percent of the state's population today. This figure includes 47,000 runaway juveniles.

Fortunately, Hanson said, most of these cases are resolved quickly.

"If Mom calls to say that her daughter isn't home from soccer practice, and she shows up three hours later, we count that as a runaway juvenile," he said.

Today, 1,056 Alaskans are still missing, according to figures from the troopers. Of these, 166 are categorized as runaways; 255 are associated with commercial fishing; 225 are involved with recreational boating and 92 are associated with aircraft accidents.

Hanson said many of the cases he sees, most prominently the commercial-fishing cases, offer little to no hope of retrieving the missing person alive, but the troopers nonetheless keep the case open until death is confirmed.

If life insurance or other postmortem measures become a concern, the family of the missing person can take its case to the court system to establish presumed death.

Affiliated with the troopers' search efforts is the Amber Alert Program, an emergency radio broadcast that is sent out on radio waves statewide when an abduction case arises. This broadcast encourages listeners to keep an eye out for the perpetrators and victims of the crime.

Technology in general has aided search efforts greatly over recent years, according to Hanson.

"Most of the nation is connected very well via computer systems, and we can share information pretty quickly," he said. "It allows us to disseminate information much more rapidly to many more people."

There are a number of precautions that can be taken to reduce the risk of serious incidents involving missing persons. The best way to avoid trouble is to make sure that friends, family, and other contacts are informed before heading out into the backcountry. A wilderness trip planner, available on the troopers' Web site at www.dps.state.ak.us/pio/images/AST%20Trip%20Plan.pdf, provides a written record of routes, arrival and departure times, transportation methods, and other information that can be used by officials to help locate missing hikers and other wilderness adventurers. Hanson referred to the planner as "a flight plan for your hiking trip."

Hanson, who has worked with the troopers for 11 years, including one year in Palmer, said he enjoys any opportunity to spread the word about law enforcement. "Any time that a member of the troopers can get out and talk to members of the public, it's a good thing," he said.

As the Fourth of July weekend approaches, Hanson said, special care should be taken to lessen the risk of getting lost and prevent other common holiday mishaps such as drunken-driving collisions.

"You might be the best driver in the world, but that guy on the other side of the road might not be," he said.

Contact Daniel Spoth at daniel.spoth@frontiersman.com.