Missing Adults

A missing persons report should be filed on any adult missing under suspicious, endangered, or unusual circumstances. These standards are required by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and must be met before an adult missing person can be entered into the computer system. Once these basic guidelines have been established, the Office of the Sheriff enters the reports into the Florida Crime Information Computer (FCIC) and the National Crime Information Computer (NCIC).

Adults are often difficult cases for law enforcement to handle. Adults have the right to leave any location at any time without telling anyone. In addition, when one adult missing person is located, he/she has the right to refuse contact with the complainant and can insist that law enforcement not disclose his/her whereabouts. In these cases, all that law enforcement can tell someone reporting an adult missing is that the subject is alive and well and does not wish contact. This information is often difficult for family and friends to accept and leaves many unanswered questions for them to deal with.

If the computer entry guidelines for FCIC and NCIC have not been met, the missing person can only be entered into the Lee County Sheriff's Office "local" computer in the event a Deputy makes contact with the missing person. Of course, the adults' basic rights of privacy still have to be acknowledged.

REMEMBER: No matter what you have been told, there is no law requiring a waiting period for reporting someone missing. There is also no waiting period for entering the information into the various computer systems.