Missing people and the Police

Delila

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.

The phone data from their phones will show the cell phone tower their phones last 'pinged' from.
However, this covers a wide radius, thus, it will not give the exact location.
However, it would certainly narrow down the search area.
It just seems such an unfortunate set of circumstances. 🌻

Five young people missing for 48hrs before they're found. And yet a Lancashire woman disappears and a manhunt ensues.
I want to think positively about the police. However when I read yesterday that the police ignored the murderer of Sarah Everard exposing himself, when the staff gave them a description of his car including the reg number AND details of the credit card used and the name of the owner, I wonder if somehow judgements based on stereotypes are being employed.

Blame is often something that is misplaced, this is emotional, a lot of us have children or grandchildren out in cars living life.

While I think that this should have been looked into as soon as it was realised 5 young people had all gone dark at the same moment...

It is also an accidental tragedy and I don't necessarily blame the police for this.

The police are underfunded and undermanned.

In order for them to be able to not have to prioritise case loads so much, the time and manpower needs to be there doesn't it.

That just won't bring any comfort to relatives if it is found out that anyone could have been saved if found sooner

I am considering asking my children to join some set of tracking app with me with a promise only to use it for emergency.

The tragedy lies partly in the fact that had they been just a few years closer to the road, they would have been found very quickly. But in the absence of information about which direct they had gone in, only a full on helicopter search of a huge area could have done the job. With the information given, was this a realistic expectation given all the other events happening that night?

I'm appalled at whats coming out about sexism and racism in the police, I feel angry, I feel there was/are in some places a collective OTOH I was treated very well when I needed help and called police to my home and it was young men.

But I cant really see how it relates to this incident.

In rushing to blame the police, it might hurt the families more than they might imagine.

Information on the state of the driver and others will come out at a PM: and inquest: which will now be a source of media interest. The remaining two, instead of a quiet recovery and help grieving, could be subject to all kinds of media attention.

Yards not years in opening line.

I was trying to explain that I wasn't blaming

Just feeling for the family

That came across.

I'm afraid they have brought down consequences they never could have intended by making it so public..

Thanks Sammz2, that’s interesting. Perhaps the police did eventually look into the phone location data to search in that general area?

Yes, unfortunately they may have taken a while to piece together disjointed information coming from various families.

Sorry, Sammz21

Delila

Thanks Sammz2, that’s interesting. Perhaps the police did eventually look into the phone location data to search in that general area?

Yes, unfortunately they may have taken a while to piece together disjointed information coming from various families.

The police were searching in the area on foot but it has been reported that it was a member of the public who found the car, apparently.

Yes, I read that too Callistemon21.

I’m puzzled by this. Were they all reported missing at the same time? Or was it a case of the mothers reporting their daughters missing as one of the mothers has said the men were strangers. Perhaps nobody realised 5 were missing at first. That may have influenced things.

We have the find my phone app on our phones it tracks within a few yards if there is a phone signal. I can even track my brother and sister in the US which is interesting because brother travels a lot, his company relocates him week by week.

There is a fast-growing tendency to bash the police for any and every perceived failing regardless of the facts and resources as a result of a very small number of high profile cases. It makes for lots of easy-to-write newspaper and social media copy and TV punditry. Policing needs improvement but let us not forget police resources are stretched and ultimately determined by this Tory government.