Only in recent decades, after sensational cases such as those of Emanuela Orlandi, Angela Celentano or Denise Pipitone, and thanks to the contribution of the media, civil society and institutions have become aware of the drama of the disappeared. Every year hundreds of people leave their homes and loved ones, often involuntarily. Some disappearances, such as that of Elena Ceste or Roberta Ragusa, have turned out to be homicides, even without finding the body. Other cases, however, have been solved in the very first hours. What are the protocols that are adopted when a person no longer gives news? What are the time limits within which one must contact the police?
The Police who receive the complaint must immediately begin the search. The person reporting the complaint has the right to request information from both the Public Prosecutor's Office with jurisdiction over the territory where the missing person resided, and from the Prefect of the same territory under the administrative profile; The relative of the missing person can personally follow the dual criminal and administrative search procedure. Penelope Onlus supports these people in this dual activity until they have an answer, whether they have been found alive or found dead or not found at all.
If the missing person is not found in the first 48 hours, dead or alive, it is unlikely that they will be found. With an effective search it is possible to reach about 70%-80% of finding the missing person in the first 48 hours. This is why the Penelope association has fought so hard in recent years to abandon the practice - followed for over 80 years - by virtue of which those who filed a complaint were invited to wait the famous 48 hours, a rule that has never had any legal basis whatsoever.
In America there is 'NameUs' (National Missing and Unidentified Persons System), the public online system that collects all the data of the missing, in Italy there is no such archive. Every six months the Extraordinary Government Commissioner for missing persons, a position established by President Giorgio Napolitano, in 2007 and today held by the prefect, Vittorio Piscitelli, provides the data of missing persons every six months.
According to the latest update published on July 28, 2017, from 1974 to today we have approximately 48,000 missing persons, of which 24,000 minors (2,167 Italians and the remainder foreigners) and approximately 9,500 women who have disappeared, or rather registered and monitored in the Italian territory and of whom every trace has been lost.
We talked about this and much more today, January 28th, with Nino La Lumia, Ruben Razzante, Vinicio Nardo, Nicodemo Gentile, Silvia Bassi, Fabio Di Venosa and Fabio Sbattella
