About Missing People#
Missing People was founded by two sisters, Mary Asprey and Janet Newman, as the National Missing Persons Helpline, and describes itself as the only UK charity that reunites missing children and adults with the people who love them. Its support is free and confidential, and it is there for three groups: people who are away from home, people thinking of leaving, and the families and friends left behind. Its register entry says someone is reported missing in the UK every 90 seconds.
Contacting it without being found#
One free number takes calls and texts from 10am to 10pm every day, and works with no credit on your phone; there is also online chat, a contact form and a freepost address on its contact page. An interpreter can be arranged. Its "send a message home" service passes a message in your own words to a family member, someone you live with or a professional; it needs your name and date of birth and the other person's details, but not your location. It can also set up a three-way call and stay on the line.
Your rights as an adult#
Missing People is direct about this. Going missing is not a crime for an adult, and adults have the right to go missing unless detained under the Mental Health Act or legally in someone else's care. If you are reported missing, the police still need to see you in person to check you are safe and well, and having ID with you helps. Once they have, its rights page says they can close the case, and they will not force you to go home or tell people where you are. They will tell whoever reported you that you are safe, but not where you are, unless you ask them to, or unless they believe you are not safe. The law is different for under-18s.
How this fits with a new name#
Missing People publishes nothing about changing your name, and a new name is not needed to stop being missing. If you choose one as part of a fresh start, the same rights apply: anyone aged 16 or over can change their own name with a deed poll, using GOV.UK's free wording, without anyone's agreement. An unenrolled deed poll is not published anywhere. Enrolling one is optional and does publish your names and address, in The Gazette, so most people who want privacy do not enrol.
Its tracing service is built around the found person's consent. Lost Contact traces relatives at a family member's request, but only with a full name and date of birth, it sends at most two letters, and it will not pass on an address or any information without the found person's consent. Its guide to your digital footprint explains how to have an old missing appeal removed from search results, which can matter if an appeal shows a name you no longer use.
Records to think about#
A new name can still appear in records you update: the open electoral register, a credit file, Companies House. Can someone find out my new name? explains which are public, and keeping your address off your records covers what to switch off. If you left because of abuse, changing your name to stay safe sets out the safest order.
This page describes what Missing People publishes on its own website, read on 26 October 2026. Missing People has not reviewed it, and listing a charity here does not mean it recommends this handbook or any deed poll service.
