Missing people and the Police

Blaming doesn't help but the police need to realise that these families will have been so concerned due to the fact not one of them had been on social media since 2am.

The girls were prolific users of Instagram etc. They'd posted photos of them getting ready. Setting out. They met the two boys and posted photos of them.

For all 5 of them to go silent indicates a big problem. Perfectly acceptable for the parents to be worried.

When I was young I'd not always go home after a night out. We had no mobile phones. No social media. Mum would raise her eyebrows when I stumbled home.

It's a different world now.

Just such a tragic event. The poor families.

According to the police the first missing person report was made to Gwent Police at 7.34pm on Saturday 4th March, so it does look as though the families weren’t originally concerned enough to contact the police either. They probably didn’t realise that all their social media had stopped at the same time until later on that evening when they started piecing the accounts together.

I'm glad there is a thread about this as I can;t understand why the police DID NOT check the roundabout as several enquiries have stated when cars go missing with people in who haven;t returned home, it is one of the things they should do

The inside of that car for that 48 hours doesn't even bear thinking about . If the other two survive I guess they may have a story to tell

love to their families. They are going to need all the support they can get

JaneJudge

I'm glad there is a thread about this as I can;t understand why the police DID NOT check the roundabout as several enquiries have stated when cars go missing with people in who haven;t returned home, it is one of the things they should do

The inside of that car for that 48 hours doesn't even bear thinking about . If the other two survive I guess they may have a story to tell

love to their families. They are going to need all the support they can get

They had travelled some distance that night, though, perhaps no-one realised they had taken that route back again so it could have been looking for a needle in a haystack.

However, an alert could have gone out earlier if not a full-scale search.

Casdon

According to the police the first missing person report was made to Gwent Police at 7.34pm on Saturday 4th March, so it does look as though the families weren’t originally concerned enough to contact the police either. They probably didn’t realise that all their social media had stopped at the same time until later on that evening when they started piecing the accounts together.

The car was found in an area which is policed by South Wales Police, too.

I think talking about people's 'grubby lives' is incredibly disrespectful. They are young people, it is normal for them to go out and have fun if they want to and completely acceptable.

Callistemon21

Casdon

According to the police the first missing person report was made to Gwent Police at 7.34pm on Saturday 4th March, so it does look as though the families weren’t originally concerned enough to contact the police either. They probably didn’t realise that all their social media had stopped at the same time until later on that evening when they started piecing the accounts together.

The car was found in an area which is policed by South Wales Police, too.

Yes, I also heard on the Welsh news that some of the reports about the young people had gone to South Wales police and some to Gwent police because the two men were from Cardiff and the girls from Newport, so that information had to be joined up. It’s so tragic, and there will be an inquiry but I don’t think people should jump to blame the police for failings as yet.

Casdon

According to the police the first missing person report was made to Gwent Police at 7.34pm on Saturday 4th March, so it does look as though the families weren’t originally concerned enough to contact the police either. They probably didn’t realise that all their social media had stopped at the same time until later on that evening when they started piecing the accounts together.

The family had been phoning and a mother of one of the girls was told to stop phoning.

I think 7.34 was the time the police alert went out

Zoejory

Casdon

According to the police the first missing person report was made to Gwent Police at 7.34pm on Saturday 4th March, so it does look as though the families weren’t originally concerned enough to contact the police either. They probably didn’t realise that all their social media had stopped at the same time until later on that evening when they started piecing the accounts together.

The family had been phoning and a mother of one of the girls was told to stop phoning.

I think 7.34 was the time the police alert went out

Yes.

That poor mother. I'd be very angry indeed.
Friends and families had to go out searching themselves.

Zoejory

Casdon

According to the police the first missing person report was made to Gwent Police at 7.34pm on Saturday 4th March, so it does look as though the families weren’t originally concerned enough to contact the police either. They probably didn’t realise that all their social media had stopped at the same time until later on that evening when they started piecing the accounts together.

The family had been phoning and a mother of one of the girls was told to stop phoning.

I think 7.34 was the time the police alert went out

No, what I said was correct according to the police report, here it is.
www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/police-lay-out-facts-investigation-26409620

JaneJudge

I think talking about people's 'grubby lives' is incredibly disrespectful. They are young people, it is normal for them to go out and have fun if they want to and completely acceptable.

I wasn’t talking about those in the car. I was talking about those causing the police so much work.

ExperiencedNotOld

You used those words "grubby lives" to comment on a post of mine so I need to clarify because I'm simply appalled!

I wrote,

". Yes, in an ideal world there would have been extensive earlier searches, but on a Friday night we know all too well from police stats what the police are engaged in of a night - call outs for serious crime or domestics or city centre drinking bout and aggression resulting from the alcohol, or the huge number of sad people with MH problems or found in other kinds of distress”

With the exception of alcohol fuelled city/town centre fracas, the other examples are the simple reality of necessary calls on the police.

Just 8 months ago I had the police out on a domestic abuse incident 11.30 at night

of course call outs to crime calls at night.....and the call outs from the desperate and distressed relate to the lack of other services would you leave people clearly at risk

Grubby?

Casdon

Zoejory

Casdon

According to the police the first missing person report was made to Gwent Police at 7.34pm on Saturday 4th March, so it does look as though the families weren’t originally concerned enough to contact the police either. They probably didn’t realise that all their social media had stopped at the same time until later on that evening when they started piecing the accounts together.

The family had been phoning and a mother of one of the girls was told to stop phoning.

I think 7.34 was the time the police alert went out

No, what I said was correct according to the police report, here it is.
www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/police-lay-out-facts-investigation-26409620

Possibly it was the first time it was logged?

Perhaps other calls by a worried mother were dismissed and not logged.

My son in law is a policeman in a city centre. It is grubby. You’re entitled to your opinion and me to mine. I don’t see the need to get so affronted,

The mother of Sophie Russon claims:

Ms Certowicz claimed she first phoned Gwent Police at noon on Saturday, and made a total of 10 calls that day, but police told her that Ms Russon was "probably out partying".

Ms Certowicz says she drove round searching for her daughter herself after her fears were dismissed by the police.

Both Forces have referred themselves to the IOPC.

a heat -seeking camera sweep from the police helicopter over the main routes might have detected the vehicle sooner.
how can a previous poster say it wouldn't have made any difference if the vehicle was discovered sooner.
i think that is unlikely to be true.

Can phones be checked for approximate location, eg by “pinging” a nearby mast, or is that only on tv dramas? If it can be ascertained that five phones are silent & stationary for a long period near a very busy main road, wouldn’t it be a good idea to check the situation, given that 5 people were reported missing.

Theexwife

Even if the police had taken their disappearance seriously, where would they have looked? Thousands of cars drove past the spot where the car went off the road and did not spot it.

A tragic accident, sometimes there is no one to blame.

Exactly this.
I don’t believe the police were at fault in this case.Five friends in a car could have gone anywhere.

What a tragic accident. Although if the parents were used to getting calls when they arrived home or if they were going to be out late maybe that was a red flag. However as most people are saying where would they have started to look? I know that no matter how many times I tell my granddaughter (22) to call or text me when she gets home safe, most of the time she forgets. On occasion she has stayed at a friends and not told anyone either.

Callistemon21

The mother of Sophie Russon claims:

Ms Certowicz claimed she first phoned Gwent Police at noon on Saturday, and made a total of 10 calls that day, but police told her that Ms Russon was "probably out partying".

Ms Certowicz says she drove round searching for her daughter herself after her fears were dismissed by the police.

Both Forces have referred themselves to the IOPC.

Thank you, Callistemon21

I believe her

Five sets of parents expressing similar concerns should not have been ignored. Families usually have a pretty good idea of when to start worrying.

I took it personally becuase As well as the young policeman I encountered, coercive abuse journey, I'm very MH aware and know how desperate calls upon the police at night can be. If thats grubby then I'm sorry.

I also have a Quaker friend whose son is an armed police officer, and a young policeman came to our Quaker meeting looking for support:

all those 4 felt their night work amongst people and crime incidents struggling for many reasons were far from "grubby".

Like I said, city centre drinking is pretty grubby! but the other calls on their time.

I'm glad the police have immediately referred themselves because we'll be able to see the pressures and priorities on that particular night.

We'll also sadly find out if the driver was impaired in anyway: alcohol or drugs: there will be information from those who survived which I'm very hopeful will NOT be in the public domain.

I think the police will ask seriously "did we give it enough attention or make assumptions" but if we find out the driver was impaired then I hope for the families it is kept private.

Callistemon21

Casdon

Zoejory

Casdon

According to the police the first missing person report was made to Gwent Police at 7.34pm on Saturday 4th March, so it does look as though the families weren’t originally concerned enough to contact the police either. They probably didn’t realise that all their social media had stopped at the same time until later on that evening when they started piecing the accounts together.

The family had been phoning and a mother of one of the girls was told to stop phoning.

I think 7.34 was the time the police alert went out

No, what I said was correct according to the police report, here it is.
www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/police-lay-out-facts-investigation-26409620

Possibly it was the first time it was logged?

Perhaps other calls by a worried mother were dismissed and not logged.

I don’t know, I’d have thought the police logged every call received, but maybe they don’t. If not, it was misleading for the report they published not to mention that.

Stuff of nightmares those poor poor families but we all always need someone to blame but I don’t think the police were necessarily to blame They were not young teenagers they were all in their twenties and one lad was thirty Many parents don’t know where their grown up children are on nights out at that age They had been out and about I m sure the police would not have seen red flags so early in the story but it is a total tragedy that they went into a tree lined copse and weren’t noticeable from the road Dozens of cars must have gone passed and noticed nothing

If you look on FB every day there are numerous posts of missing daughters and sons usually 13 year olds or young teens with parents going bananas ringing police for help they are usually found the same day or the next day and go home with their tails between their legs I think we all underestimate how many time the police get ‘missing’ reports.

It’s easy to lay blame when you are in such painful grief

Where blame is due, lay it.

but isnt it a relatively new thing to automatically "Blame"

instead of waiting for details of circumstances? there will be information from the two who survived.