Police in the Halifax area are asking for the public’s help in locating a 26-year-old woman reported missing from Lower Sackville.
The plea comes less than 24 hours after police turned to the public for help in finding two young girls reported missing from Dartmouth.
The girls were found safe Tuesday evening, but police say hundreds of people are reported missing in the Halifax area each year, and many of the cases never go public.
Since 2010, there has been an average of 1,301 youth under the age of 18 reported missing in the Halifax area each year while an average 389 adults are reported missing each year.
“The vast majority of these youth are missing for a very short period of time,” says Const. Pierre Bourdages of the Halifax Regional Police. “They either return home or they’re found very quickly.”
When a missing youth fails to turn up, police have certain criteria they follow. If the child is under 12, the investigation starts immediately.
If the youth is over 12, it depends on the circumstances.
Police say a report is taken after 24 hours if an adult disappears and a number of checks are done before police take the case to the public.
“A record of where they may have been before, people they know, family members, really trying to source information where this individual may be,” says Bourdages.
Police say going public is dictated by circumstances.
“It could be they are in need of medication. It could be that they’re a threat to themselves,” says Bourdages. “It could be that we have absolutely no info as to where they may be.”
Tony Rodgers is with Halifax Regional Search and Rescue - a resource police use in some cases. Rodgers says the organization is usually called in when a person is lost, rather than missing.
“A lost person, we have a definite start place from where they left. For instance, the car may be parked in the parking lot or somebody saw that person walk into the woods at this given time,” says Rodgers.
Another tool police have is the Amber Alert, which has very specific criteria. It is often activated in cases of child abduction.
Police say it is in place in Nova Scotia, but has never been activated.
As for the most recent missing persons case, police are looking for 26-year-old Monika “Mikki” Selig who was last seen leaving a friend’s home on Best Street in Dartmouth around 8:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Police say there is no evidence to suggest Selig has met with foul play, but there are concerns for her well-being as she has a medical condition and requires treatment.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Jacqueline Foster
