Man reported missing later found dead - West Midlands Police, October 2017

At 12.10am on 7 October 2017 a woman telephoned West Midlands Police (WMP) to report that her partner was missing. She said he had not returned home earlier that evening as he normally would. She stated she had not seen or heard from him since 9am the previous day and that it was very unusual. She mentioned that her partner occasionally took medication for anxiety and may have been suffering from depression brought on by a medical condition. Over the course of the night the caller made several further phone calls to the police.

WMP initially recorded the man as being ‘absent’. At 4.26pm on 7 October the risk assessment level was set at ‘medium’. At 9.28am on 9 October the risk assessment level was changed to ‘high’. As part of their investigation WMP carried out various checks and enquiries over the following few weeks.

On 26 November a member of the public reported to the police that a body had been found. This was later identified as the missing man.

Our investigators examined WMP’s handling of the missing person’s enquiry. The evidence showed that appropriate procedures and risk assessments were completed by police, and that the searches and work undertaken to locate the man were appropriate under the circumstances. The man’s body was found by a member of the public eight weeks after he was first reported missing. There was no evidence to suggest that the police had any involvement with the man prior to his death, nor that the police caused or in any way contributed to the man’s death.

Based on the evidence available we found no indication that any person serving with the police may have behaved in a manner that would justify the bringing of disciplinary proceedings, or had committed a criminal offence.

We completed our investigation in August 2018.