Missing Persons
and the Status of Boys and Men
July 18, 2021
by Sean Kullman
Last weekend, 37-year-old Philip Kreycik (a healthy and avid outdoor runner from Berkeley, California) left his residence at 11:00 a.m. on a hot Saturday for a run in the hills of Pleasanton, California. His wife contacted authorities three hours later when he never returned home. A search ensued and law-enforcement has used drones, dogs, and volunteers to search for the missing man who has yet to be found.
Over the past 11 years, 258,494 adult males and 179,881 adult females as well as 939,918 children have gone missing according to date from the CA Attorney General’s Missing Persons Report. It should be noted that 41% of missing adults persons and 65% of children return home on their own.
Although the Attorney General’s report does list the total number of missing persons by sex, the report does not disaggregate by categories [1]. This oversight impacts the statistical realities of missing people, and GIBM sees this as a common demographic data-trend that often underscores the impact on boys and men, as males account for the greater number of deaths associated with drug overdose, violent crime, and other areas of concern in the Attorney General’s Status Report. However, missing persons, like most issues, is a bridged gender issue that needs further vetting of demographic data. And with a social push for fewer resources for law-enforcement officers, there is legitimate concern that missing person outcomes will be less successful, resulting in more deaths and a greater number of unsolved cases. The role of law-enforcement is integral to better outcomes, and increasing funding to law-enforcement is an important first step in finding missing children and missing adults.
Missing Person Tables and California
GIBM created original tables that remove the number of those who return home on “his/her own” as a way to look directly at outcomes other than those who return home voluntarily. (We also provide full data tables in the appendix below). The data is partially informative but needs sex-based disaggregation. Global Initiative for Boys and Men is pushing for a California and Washington Commission on the Status of Boys and Men with help from Equality for Boys and Men. Though California has a Commission on the Status of Women and Girls, no such commission exist to educate the legislature on the status of boys and men.
GIBM believes data disaggregation is essential to understanding root causes of outcomes if we hope to solve some of California and the nation's pressing problems and the ways we allocate resources properly. In some instances, we believe our data collection process will result in a better understanding of outcomes that impact girls and women as well.
GIBM is continuing its research into nationwide data and will report on it in the near future.
Appendix of Complete Tables
[1] The Status Report by the Attorney General's Office identifies nine categories. (1) Returned on his/her own, (2) Located by law enforcement, (3) Deceased: Missing person found deceased, (4) Arrested, (5) Emancipated juvenile by the courts, (6) Voluntarily Missing, (7) Withdrawn/Invalid report filed or reporting party withdraws report, (8) Other: report canceled for reasons other than listed, (9) Unknown: circumstances why case canceled are unknown.
The table above includes yearly data for missing adults by sex as well as a status report on 92.1% to 96.4% of those cases. * The status report includes missing persons who (1) Returned on his/her own, (2) Located by law enforcement, (3) Deceased: Missing person found deceased, (4) Arrested, (5) Emancipated juvenile by the courts, (6) Voluntarily Missing, (7) Withdrawn/Invalid report filed or reporting party withdraws report, (8) Other: report canceled for reasons other than listed, (9) Unknown: circumstances why case canceled are unknown.
The table above includes yearly data for missing children by sex as well as a status report on 94.1% to 96.5% of those cases. * The status report includes missing children who (1) Returned on his/her own, (2) Located by law enforcement, (3) Deceased: Missing person found deceased, (4) Arrested, (5) Emancipated juvenile by the courts, (6) Voluntarily Missing, (7) Withdrawn/Invalid report filed or reporting party withdraws report, (8) Other: report canceled for reasons other than listed, (9) Unknown: circumstances why case canceled are unknown.
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