Introduction;
An estimated 250,000 people are reported to go missing each year, in the UK, according to the charity Missing People.
Of this number, approximately 140,000 are children under the age of 18. With 838 reports each day, it's said that the first 48 hours, of a child being lost, is the prime time to find them. But what if they aren’t found?
Charities like Missing Children, Missing people, and Action Against Abduction are in place to prevent exceeding that 48 hours.
This is in a bid to prevent innocent children from being lured to prostitution, or potentially fatal circumstances, as Missing Children suggests is common after this time period.
While there are so many missing people, with unknown figures as to how many including those not reported to the police, there’s approximately 298 unidentified body parts found in the UK in a year.
The inability and difficulty to place the body parts to a person results in doubt over whether the missing are still alive, which is where the Presumption of Death Act comes into play.
Presumption of Death Act and background;
The Presumption of Death Act 2013 is designed to negate the previous convoluted process to determine that a missing family member is dead, in England and Wales.
It implements an idea that if they are missing for more than seven years, the missing person's family can apply for a declaration of death; to legally grant the next of kin access to the person’s estate.
However, there is an exception to the rule, if there’s evidence to suggest death; which is a new addition with the act.
Craig Collie, an expert in criminal justice, said
"The system in England & Wales had become very convoluted, making it difficult to receive a declaration due to applicants having to go between various bodies, and this created a drawn out, frustrating process. The Act goes a long way to rectifying this, allowing for death to be declared without a particular timescale if there is reason to believe death has occurred, enabling earlier application if a fatal outcome appears likely."
The act comes after outcries from families unable to grieve, and suddenly single parents unable to claim on their partner’s insurance.
Susannah Drury, Missing People’s Director of Policy, Research and Development said
“Missing People is delighted that families will no longer have to struggle through complex, separate legal processes to resolve their loved one’s affairs. We hope that the new system we campaigned for will help families when they need it most.”
Campaigned for ferociously by the charities, the act had multiple cases acting as a barge pole to push it through. Arguably most beneficial for missing adults, in terms of dissolving of assets and funds; the act has been prompted by the difficulty faced in cases prior to 2013.
Richey Edwards of The Manic Street Preachers was declared dead in absentia in 2008, using the system in place before the act, which Lucy Holmes – a research manager for Missing People – refers to as 'costly, complicated and confusing’.
It resulted in Edwards’ £455,990 estate was put in control of his parents, allowing them to settle his debts and, maybe most importantly, begin to grieve.
This isn’t the only high-profile missing person case that struggled for a declaration of death. Perhaps the most famous instance is the disappearance of Lord Lucan in 1974.
Though circumstance allowed for his family to take ownership of his assets through probate in 1999, his son – and so, his title’s heir – was not allowed to take his seat in the House of Lords without a death certificate. It wasn’t until the act was passed that the 8th Lord of Lucan took the seat.
Head of The National Crime Agency’s missing people bureau, Joe Apps said
“I think that the Presumption of Death Act is a very useful piece of legislation. We worked hard with the Ministry of Justice and Missing People to secure it as we were regularly asked by police forces and families, as well as by coroners about the supposed seven year rule on the presumption of death.
Families, of course, are saying that the simpler process takes so much worry and grief away, making life easier to bear.”
"the simpler process takes so much worry and grief away, making life easier to bear."
The potential problems with it and the actuality;
"A declaration does little beyond change the legal status. The factual situation remains the same, as do the burdens that come with that situation for families and loved ones." Said Craig Collie.
While this is true, there's the possibility that when a missing child is presumed dead, there could be the perception from the public that it’s a closed case.
There could be a less active search for the child resulting from this, though 'presumed dead’ doesn’t necessarily mean dead.
Proven when Savanna Harris Todd was found 18 years after her disappearance, and Julian Tiberius Hernandez 13 years after his – both alive, when assumed dead; neither were found by police forces.
Mr. Collie continued “I can see some advantages for the act in terms of children, however, it should be acknowledged that the main reason for getting a declaration is to resolve legal and financial issues, and as such tends to be a bit more relevant for missing adults.
That said, the function of getting a declaration is still important for the parents or guardians of children as it enables a sense of closure to be gotten, which means the family can begin the healing process and try to move on from the "limbo" that knowing a missing person can bring.”
In some cases, though, when a ‘presumption of death’ certificate is obtained, it triggers a murder case which leaves the mystery of where the child could be behind. Charlene Downes’ case is a prime example of this, where even the officer leading her case doesn’t believe she’s alive anymore.
Andy Webster, Detective Superintendent of Lancashire Constabulary and lead of the Downes case said
“We are determined to establish exactly what happened to Charlene, to identify who is responsible for her murder.”
No longer is her case a missing person's where they aim to find her urgently and alive, though it still hasn’t been proven as murder.
Tom Parmenter, a Sky News reporter who has worked on cases of missing children such as Paige Chivers and Shannon Matthews, said
“In my experience, I’d say that most news editors or journalists covering a missing child’s case would not necessarily be instantly thinking of the presumption of death act, they’d be thinking about the circumstances, how seriously the police seem to be taking that case of the missing child and all sorts of other considerations.
The presumption of death act is something huge for families but for a journalist covering the story, it’s not in the initial thoughts.”
What you can do to help lower the number of missing children;
To volunteer at one of the charities that help in the search for missing people and children, go to
missingpeople.org.uk or www.actionagainstabduction.org.
If you think you see a missing child or any suspicious activity, please call 101.
If you're thinking about going missing, call or text Missing People on 116 000.
