Thousands of UK missing persons cases may be reinvestigated

Volunteer detectives could look again at all 13,000 cold cases on National Crime Agency’s missing persons unit

Missing persons investigations going back decades and cases of unidentified remains across the UK will be freshly investigated under a new pilot scheme.

The programme, by the charity Locate International, will be limited initially to a small number of police forces. But the National Police Chiefs Council has said it could be extended nationwide, bringing in volunteer detectives from around the world to reinvestigate all 13,000 cold cases on the National Crime Agency’s UK missing persons unit.