OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — There have been a lot of high-profile missing person cases lately.
3 News Now received a few emails from folks wondering why we weren't covering a case they were close to. We only report on cases that law enforcement agencies confirm are active missing person cases where the public's help is needed in locating someone.
Friday, law enforcement at Omaha Police explained what goes into making that decision.
At the time of writing, there were 41 people listed in Nebraska's missing persons clearinghouse, hosted by the Nebraska State Patrol. But for cases that get elevated attention from law enforcement and media, there are much fewer.
See Nebraska's missing people list here. See Iowa's here.
Omaha Police Sgt. Brett Schrage, who works in the missing persons unit, says OPD sees 2,800 missing juveniles reported in a typical year. The vast majority are runaways, he said.
Compare that to the number of times he says OPD typically will send out for the public's help: Maybe 5-10 a year.
"If we forced every single one of our missing persons reports out to the media ... it would dilute the message," he said. "People would get to the point where they just kind of become numb to us constantly pushing out all those different cases."
Schrage said it's handled on a case-by-case basis. Some things though would be considered red flags, including young children and older adults who could be confused, a suicide note, or any evidence of danger that police can verify.
"People will tell us their hunches," said Schrage. "And that's all stuff ... we follow up with. But if we can't verify that information as being true, we can't necessarily go off of that information."
Not all cases have an element that makes law enforcement agencies concerned about an imminent threat, said Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation Assistant Director Mitch Mortvedt, who also spoke with 3 News Now. Their agency only gets involved when a local one requests their assistance.
"To an extent ... an adult has a right to go missing," said Mortvedt. "But if it's something that's outside the normal pattern of behavior for them ... I don't want to speak for every law enforcement agency, but it would depend on the circumstances."
He said anyone can report anyone missing.
"The big things would be if it's a child ... foul play suspected, or a dependent adult," said Mortvedt.
In Nebraska, some cases might meet the defined criteria for an Endangered Missing Advisory. They are posted on social media and sent to media, said Nebraska State Patrol spokesperson Cody Thomas, but people can sign up for those here.
Unlike AMBER alerts, they do not send notifications to phones. AMBER alerts are only for abducted juveniles.
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