"Disappearances collapse both time and space" is a great distillation of what uniquely colours these events. As a journalist I had disappearance cases that haunt me long after. Another aspect that is hidden from public awareness is the insane number of leads that come in for high profile cases. I once researched for a documentary about Ben Needham, a toddler who disappeared on Kos. Interpol gave us their sighting reports for, maybe (I can't recall now) 2 or 3 years. Every continent was represented. The awful thing was that one theory held that he'd been taken by travellers. So every sighting was potentially salient. I still think about Ben, who would be 32 now. And his mum, Kerry.
"Disappearances collapse both time and space" is a great distillation of what uniquely colours these events. As a journalist I had disappearance cases that haunt me long after. Another aspect that is hidden from public awareness is the insane number of leads that come in for high profile cases. I once researched for a documentary about Ben Needham, a toddler who disappeared on Kos. Interpol gave us their sighting reports for, maybe (I can't recall now) 2 or 3 years. Every continent was represented. The awful thing was that one theory held that he'd been taken by travellers. So every sighting was potentially salient. I still think about Ben, who would be 32 now. And his mum, Kerry.