According to Cootamundra LAC Superintendent Christopher Schilt of the 38,000 missing persons reports recorded by police Australia wide each year, two-thirds relate to a young person under the age of 18.

“Those most likely to go missing with a rate six times higher than the general population are those youth in-between the ages of 13 and 17 who account for half of all missing persons reports,” he said.

Mr Schilt said the key message for this year’s National Missing Persons Week is ‘Still waiting for you to come home’.

Police in the Cootamundra LAC and Australia wide are calling on the public to help by viewing profiles of long-term missing persons at the national missing persons register website at www.missingpersons.gov.au. 

According to the website there are 1,600 people who have been missing long term which means persons that have been missing for longer than three months.

Police in the Cootamundra LAC and Mr Schilt encourage the public to look through the website and anyone who may have information about the whereabouts of a missing person is asked to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

“You don’t have to wait 24 hours to report someone missing. You can report someone as missing to your local police where there are fears for the person’s welfare and safety, and their whereabouts are unknown,” Mr Schilt said.