Response to missing person’s report - Northamptonshire Police, August 2017

On 2 August 2017 Northamptonshire Police received a call from a woman reporting her partner as missing. She said that her partner had no mental health issues but had appeared “low” recently. She added that she had tracked their mobile phone, which was showing as near their workplace, and that a colleague had seen their car parked nearby in an unusual place.

The call was initially graded as requiring a ‘prompt’ response, meaning that officers were not immediately dispatched to conduct a risk assessment with the caller. Police were also informed that the missing person had failed to attend a meeting that morning.

Approximately an hour later, officers were deployed to go to the missing person’s workplace but could not find them. Officers also searched the missing person’s car but couldn’t find anything that would help them locate them. Hospital searches were also carried out.

The missing person was found dead the following morning by work colleagues at their place of work.

This was initially referred to us by Northamptonshire Police as a death or serious injury incident. The missing person’s family subsequently made a complaint to the force, which was linked to our existing investigation.

Our investigators conducted a detailed review of documentary evidence, including accounts of officers who had involvement in the incident. CCTV of the missing person attending their workplace and body-worn video footage of one of the officers searching the premises was reviewed,. Further accounts from various witnesses were also analysed.

The evidence we gathered provided no suggestion that the police caused or contributed to the missing person’s death.

The investigation concluded there was no indication that any police officer behaved in a manner that would justify the bringing of disciplinary proceedings or that any officer had committed a criminal offence.