Response to missing person’s report - North Yorkshire Police, January–February 2017

At 8.39 pm on 31 January 2017, a member of staff from a private estate in North Yorkshire reported concerns for a colleague to North Yorkshire Police (NYP). The man appeared to be experiencing mental health issues and was last seen heading towards a local lake telling his employers he was going for his ‘’last walk’’. This area is a vast expanse of forest, moorland and rough terrain and the weather conditions were cold, wet and foggy.

At this point, North Yorkshire Police assessed the incident as a high-risk missing from home, and officers were dispatched to attend.

At 9.20pm an officer updated the Force Control Room that the man had been located by a member of the public and had returned home. The officer requested that the man be assessed by paramedics, and to this end the local mental health team (MHT) spoke with the man over the phone. The man informed the MHT that he had no intention of harming himself, but believed someone was trying to kill him. As a result of the call, the local MHT decided they should speak to the man face to face.

A NYP officer and one of the man’s colleagues took over the care of the man in his home while waiting for the MHT to arrive. During this time, the police officer temporarily left the man in the care of one of the man’s colleagues, and the man ran off into the nearby forest.

A search of the area around the estate was initiated. The missing person report produced at this point, which was completed by two officers, described the man as not having mental health issues and not being vulnerable, and the assessment was medium risk. The risk assessment made by supervisors co-ordinating the subsequent search for the man was recorded as low, then medium risk and eventually high risk later the next day.

The search for the man, over the course of the next four days, involved the deployment of resources such as Search and Rescue, Mountain Rescue, National Police Air Service, the Royal Air Force and NYP search teams. The man was found dead in a river about 1.7 km away from his home, on 4 February 2017. A post-mortem established the cause of death was drowning.

During our investigation, investigators interviewed the officer initially attending, and obtained reports from four other officers involved in the incident, from attending the scene where the missing person was last seen, to the eventual recovery of the man’s body. We also contacted non-police witnesses. We examined the NYP decisions and responses alongside their own, and national, guidance.

Although there were initial concerns that the risk assessments levels had not been set high enough, or not in line with guidelines, the evidence showed that the resources used and the search co-ordination were comprehensive and efficient given the weather conditions, terrain and resources available.

Based on the evidence available, at the end of the investigation, 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.

After reviewing our report, NYP agreed with our findings. They advised that they would act on the lessons learnt from this investigation by providing officers and staff with advice specifically in relation to the aftercare of vulnerable missing persons being returned, and would incorporate this into their policies.