Missing person reports rose in 2022 — teen girls continue to be the largest group
Reports increased by 15 per cent in 2022. There are also 19 active long-term missing person files under investigation by police.
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The number of missing persons reports filed with Saskatoon city police rose by 15.7 per cent last year, a difference of 458 more reports.
City police received 3,372 reports in 2022, according to information on its way before the board of police commissioners on March 16. The overwhelming majority, 2,576, involve youth. Another 780 pertained to adults, and 16 involved people who left a hospital or psychiatric unit against medical advice and weren’t discharged.
In 2021, 2,914 missing person reports were filed. The report to the police board does not indicate potential explanations for the increase.
It says more reports — 1,778 of them — involved women and girls. Girls accounted for 1,379 of them. Police noted that 40 per cent of the girls reported missing were between the ages of 10 and 14.
Police further found that 75 per cent of all missing person reports involved someone who had been reported missing two or more times within a given period.
The report says police “place added emphasis on reducing the number of habitual runaways and other missing persons through continued collaboration and innovative initiatives.”
Earlier this year, Saskatoon-based outreach organization EGADZ announced the launch of an app that would help government care home operators determine a young person’s level of risk and whether it’s necessary to involve police. The app is aimed at reducing the number of missing youth reports.
In 2022, the Major Crime Unit was brought in to assist with two missing person investigations. In one case, the missing person was found to have died in circumstances that were not considered suspicious. In the other case, the person was found alive.
Police currently have 19 active long-term missing person cases; the oldest dates back to 1953.
Since last year’s report, the unit is now including the disappearance of Eddie Burwell, who is listed as missing since Feb. 2, 2018. According to the Saskatchewan Association of Chiefs of Police website, he is described as 6′ tall, weighing 186 pounds, with brown hair and green eyes.
Last year, Saskatoon police submitted DNA evidence pertaining to seven missing person cases to the National Center for Missing Persons and Identified Remains, to generate DNA profiles of the missing person or family members. The profiles are generated to help identify remains found in Canada.
Further information about missing persons in Saskatoon can be found on the Saskatoon Police Service website.
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