When a person is in the heat of their addiction of either drugs or alcohol, bad choices are often made without a thought given to the natural consequences or emotional impact it will have on their loved ones. When a person is in the heat of their addiction of either drugs or alcohol, bad choices are often made without a thought given to the natural consequences or emotional impact it will have on their loved ones. Situations may range from the person in addiction who discharges AMA (against medical advice) from a hospital or treatment facility—which is a topic for another forum, to the person who goes to a store/friends/trip and doesn’t return, or even when a person is kicked out of their home due to their addiction and become homeless by default. The scenarios are endless, but the result is the same: someone is missing and we find ourselves wondering what our next steps are.
To report an addict missing, you should
- Contact local authorities and file a missing person report.
- Be prepared to provide information on the missing person, including birth date or age, physical descriptions, and most importantly, any medical information.
- Don't assume they'll come back. The stigma of addiction has often misled people into not following-up on their loved ones’ whereabouts as “they’ll turn up sooner or later”, etc. when in actuality, their next use/drink could be their last resulting in overdose or accident-related injuries resulting in fatalities.
