“Did Not Return in Time for Curfew”: A Descriptive Analysis of Homeless Missing Persons Cases

Abstract

Homeless communities have garnered recent public attention in Canada due to their high rates of violence, victimization, and being reported as missing. There have been several high-profile cases, investigations, and inquiries involving missing homeless persons, yet very little is known about what cases are reported to the police, under what circumstances they go missing, and the outcomes of those cases. As a result, the purpose of this study is to provide some insights into some of these unresolved issues by offering an exploratory, descriptive analysis of 291 closed missing person cases from the records of a municipal police service. What this analysis reveal is a somewhat more mundane picture. Specifically, results indicate that the majority of missing person reports are of those who are female and White, have a drug/alcohol addiction, are residing at homeless shelters/missions, and have a history of being reported as missing. As well, it was revealed that most people are reported as missing due to shelter/mission reporting issues with curfews and that all are located alive. This study extends the minimal existing scholarship on the missing homeless population by providing some preliminary insights on the vulnerabilities and factors that can impact these cases.

Keywords

media violence violence exposure criminology alcohol and drugs homicide

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO). (2013). Interim guidance on the management, recording and investigation of missing persons. Missing Persons Bureau. http://www.acpo.police.uk/documents/crime/2013/201303-cba-int-guid-missingpersons.pdf

Albert

(1992). The nature of wandering in dementia: A Guttman scaling analysis of an empirical classification scheme. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 7(11), 783–787.

Babidge

N. C.

Buhrich

Butler

(2001). Mortality among homeless people with schizophrenia in Sydney, Australia: a 10-year follow-up. Acta Psychiatra Scandinavica, 103(2), 105–110.

Baggett

T. P.

Hwang

S. W.

O’Connell

J. J.

Porneala

B. C.

Stringfellow

E. J.

Orav

E. J.

Singer

D. E.

Rigotti

N. A.

(2013). Mortality among homeless adults in Boston shifts in causes of death over a 15-year period. JAMA Internal Medicine, 173(3), 189–195.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. (2001). Census housing series: Issue 6 revised—Aboriginal households. http://www.cmhc-achl.gc.ca/odpub/pdf/63695.pdf?fr=1352419659330

Canada’s Missing. (2018). Background—2018 Fast fact sheet. http://www.canadasmissing.ca/pubs/2018/index-eng.htm

Canadian Centre for Information on Missing Adults (CCIMA). (2012). Missing person's information. https://missingpersonsinformation.ca/

Cohen

I. M.

McCormick

A. V.

Plecas

(2008). A review of the nature and extent of uncleared missing persons cases in British Columbia. Canadian Electronic Library (Firm), Canadian Electronic Library—York University; University College of the Fraser Valley, School of Criminology & Criminal Justice, University of the Fraser Valley.

Coohey

Easton

S. D.

Kong

Bockenstedt

J. K. W.

(2015). Sources of psychological pain and suicidal thoughts among homeless adults. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 45(3), 271–280.

10.

D’Ercole

Struening

(1990). Victimization among homeless women: Implications for service delivery. Journal of Community Psychology, 18, 141–152.

11.

Desai

R. A.

Liu-Mares

Dausey

D. J.

Rosenheck

R. A.

(2003). Suicidal ideation and suicide attempts in a sample of homeless people with mental illness. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 191(6), 365–371.

12.

Donley

A. M.

Gualtieri

M. C.

(2017). Homeless killer: An analysis of the media’s portrayal of the victims of a serial killer. Deviant Behavior, 38(2), 226–239.

13.

Ferreira

(2018).The only alleged victim of Bruce MacArthur who was never reported missing just “never came back,” friend says. National Post. https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/the-only-alleged-victim-of-bruce-mcarthur-who-was-never-reported-missing-just-never-came-back-his-friend-says

14.

Fitzpatrick

K. M.

La Gory

M. E.

Ritchey

F. J.

(1993). Criminal victimization among the homeless. Justice Quarterly, 10, 353–368.

15.

Foy

(2016). A profile of missing persons: Some key findings for police officers. In Morewitz

Sturdy Colls

(Eds.), Handbook of missing persons (pp. 7–18). Springer.

16.

Gibson

Mathieu

. (2018).Scott mission was “like home” for alleged serial killer victim Dean Lisowick. The Star. https://www.thestar.com/news/crime/2018/01/30/scott-mission-was-like-home-for-alleged-serial-killer-victim-dean-lisowick.html

17.

Gilchrist

(2010). “ Newsworthy” victims? Exploring differences in Canadian local press coverage of missing/murdered aboriginal and white women. Feminist Media Studies, 10(4), 1–23.

18.

Hansen

J. G.

Dim

E. E.

(2019). Canada’s missing and murdered indigenous people and the imperative for a more inclusive perspective. International Indigenous Policy Journal, 10(1), 1–21.

19.

Hirschel

J. D.

Lab

S. P.

(1988). Who is missing? The realities of the missing persons problem. Journal of Criminal Justice, 16(1), 35–45.

20.

Homeless Hub. (2017). Housing, homelessness, and violence against women. https://www.homelesshub.ca/sites/default/files/attachments/Housing%2C%20Homelessness%2C%20and%20VAW%20Discussion%20Paper%20Aug%202017.pdf

21.

Horan

Beauregard

(2018). Sexual violence against marginalized victims: Choice of victim or victim of choice? Victims and Offenders, 13(2), 277–291.

22.

Hwang

S. W.

(2000). Mortality among men using homeless shelters in Toronto, Ontario. Caring for the Uninsured and Underinsured, 283(16), 2152–2157.

23.

James

Anderson

Putt

(2008). Missing persons in Australia (Research and public policy series no. 86). Australian Institute of Criminology.

24.

Kibayashi

Shojo

(2003). Accidental fatal hypothermia in elderly people with Alzheimer’s disease. Medicine, Science and the Law, 43(2), 127–131.

25.

LePard

. (2010). VPD missing women investigation review. http://www.missingwomeninquiry.ca/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Forsaken-ES-web-RGB.pdf

26.

LePard

Demers

Langan

Rossmo

D. K.

(2015). Challenges in serial murder investigations involving missing persons. Police Practice and Research, 16(4), 328–340.

27.

Lissemore

F. M.

Shatzman

Clark

Nash

Miller

Lerner

A. J.

(2019). Dementia reported missing: Use of an online search engine to track outcomes in persons with dementia reported missing. Alzheimer Disease & Associated Disorders, 33(2), 142–146.

28.

McMillan

T. M.

Laurie

Oddy

Menzies

Stewart

Wainman-Lefley

(2015). Head injury and mortality in the homeless. Journal of Neurotrauma, 32(2), 116–119.

29.

McNamara

R. H.

Crawford

Burns

(2012). Policing the homeless: Policy, practice, and perceptions. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, 36(2), 357–374.

30.

Morton

(2016). Hitchhiking and missing and murdered indigenous women: A critical discourse analysis of billboards on the highway of tears. Canadian Journal of Sociology, 41(3), 299–326.

31.

National Inquiry Into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. (2019). Reclaiming power and place: The final report of the national inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women and girls. https://www.mmiwg-ffada.ca/

32.

Newiss

(2006). Understanding the risk of going missing: Estimating the risk of fatal outcomes in cancelled cases. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, 29(2), 246–260.

33.

Newiss

(2011). Learning from fatal disappearances: A report by missing people. http://www.missingpeople.org.uk/files/Research%20publications%20and%20presentations/Learning_from_Fatal_Disapearances_2011.pdf

34.

Nilsson

S. F.

Hjorthøj

C. R.

Erlangsen

Nordentoft

(2013). Suicide and unintentional injury mortality among homeless people: A Danish nationwide register-based cohort study. European Journal of Public Health, 24(1), 50–56.

35.

Oppal

(2012). Forsaken: The report of the missing women commission of inquiry United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) 2019. Global Study on Homicide. https://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/gsh/Booklet1.pdf

36.

Pakes

Shalev-Greene

Marsh

(2014). Crisis, trauma and loss: An exploratory study into those who “come to notice” to police and health services and subsequently abscond. International Journal of Police Science & Management, 16(4), 297–307.

37.

Patterson

A. A.

Holden

R. R.

(2012). Psychache and suicide ideation among men who are homeless: A test of Shneidmans model. Suicide & Life-Threatening Behavior, 42(2), 147.

38.

Patterson

G. T.

(2007). Examining missing person police reports to identify the service needs of runaway youth and their families. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 16(3), 73–88.

39.

Payne

(1995). Understanding “going missing”: Issues for social work and social services. British Journal of Social Work, 25, 333–348.

40.

Perron

B. E.

Alexander-Eitzman

Gillepsie

D. F.

Pollio

(2008). Modeling the mental health effects of victimization among homeless persons. Social Science and Medicine, 67(9), 1475–1479.

41.

Roncarati

J. S.

Baggett

T. P.

O’Connell

J. J.

Hwang

S. W.

Cook

E. F.

Krieger

Sorensen

(2018). Mortality among unsheltered homeless adults in Boston, Massachusetts, 2000-2009. JAMA Internal Medicine, 178(9), E1–E7.

42.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police. (2019). Missing persons unit. http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/ab/community-communaute/mis-dis/index-eng.htm

43.

Saddichha

Linden

Krausz

M. R.

(2014). Physical and mental health issues among homeless youth in British Columbia, Canada: Are they different from older homeless adults? Journal of the Canadian Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 23(3), 200–206.

44.

Shalev

Schaefer

Morgan

(2008). Investigating missing persons cases: How can we learn where they go or how far they travel. International Journal of Police Science & Management, 11(2), 123–129.

45.

Sinyor

Kozloff

Reis

Schaffer

(2017). An observational study of suicide death in homeless and precariously housed people in Toronto. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 62(7), 501–505.

46.

Slockers

M. T.

Nusselder

W. J.

Rietjens

Van Beeck

E. F.

(2018). Unnatural death: A major but largely preventable cause-of-death among homeless people? The European Journal of Public Health, 28(2), 248–252.

47.

Sowerby

Thomas

S. D. M.

(2017). A mixed methods study of the mental health and criminal justice histories of missing persons. Police Practice and Research, 18(1), 87–98.

48.

Stanley

J. L.

Jansson

A. V.

Akinyemi

A. A.

Mitchel

C. S.

(2016). Characteristics of violent deaths among homeless people in Maryland, 2003–2011. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 51(5S3), S260–S266.

49.

Statistics Canada. (2016). Census profile, 2016 Census [Data file]. https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm?&Geo1=CMACA&Code1=555&Geo2=PR&Code2=35&Data=Count&SearchText=london&SearchType=Begins&SearchPR=01&B1=All&TABID=1

50.

Strega

Janzen

Morgan

Leslie

Thomas

Carriére

(2014). Never innocent victims: Street sex workers in Canadian print media. Violence Against Women, 20(1), 6–25.

51.

Sveticic

Too

L. S.

De Leo

(2012). Suicides by persons reported as missing prior to death: A retrospective cohort. BMJ Open, 2, 1–7.

52.

Tarling

Burrows

(2004). The nature and outcome of going missing: The challenge of developing effective risk assessment procedures. International Journal of Police Science & Management, 6(1), 16–26.

53.

Tucker

J. S.

Wenzel

S. L.

Straus

J. B.

Ryan

G. W.

Golinelli

(2005). Experiencing interpersonal violence: Perspectives of sexually active, substance-using women living in shelters and low-income housing. Violence Against Women, 11(10), 1319–1340.

54.

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). (2019). Global study on homicide, 2019. https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/data-and-analysis/global-study-on-homicide.html

55.

Vasiliadis

H. M.

Ngamini-Ngui

Lesage

(2015). Factors associated with suicide in the month following contact with different types of health services in Quebec. Psychiatric Services, 66(2), 121–126.