Requests for Help Due to Child Disappearances Double in Five Years

Child disappearances in Spain have reached a concerning volume, with some indicators suggesting the problem is on the rise. According to official data from the Ministry of the Interior, half of the people reported missing last year, 49.4%, were children and adolescents. This is compounded by the report from the ANAR Foundation, which in 2024 received nearly 4,400 requests for help from children and families concerning 1,171 missing minors, almost double, a 91.4% increase, compared to five years ago.

The foundation has been able to conduct a detailed study of who these children are, their reasons, problems, and social environments, thanks to the quality information provided by the thousands of calls received annually at 116000, the EU-wide helpline for missing persons and their relatives, managed by ANAR in Spain on behalf of the Ministry of the Interior.

Most of the runaway minors, more than six out of ten, are teenage girls from all types of families, but particularly from single-parent households, 36%, twelve points more than those from homes with both parents, despite being a much less common family model. Runaways from public centres or institutions account for 5% of the total. Missing children of primary school age make up 13%, one in eight, and preadolescents nearly one in five (19%).

The vast majority of child disappearances, 58%, are runaways from the family home, followed by expulsions from the home, which account for nearly one in four cases. Although much less frequent, the third main reason, causing an eighth of the help requests (12.4%), are parental abductions. With minimal figures are the loss or accident of the child, abduction by third parties for criminal purposes, and the flight of unaccompanied migrants.

Two out of three missing children and adolescents suffer from psychological problems linked to sadness, fear, suicidal thoughts, anxiety, self-harm, and, to a lesser extent, loneliness and social isolation. A significant portion of the remaining third are victims of violence in their immediate environment, both psychological and physical abuse, while other issues, such as school problems, relationship difficulties, and child poverty, account for the remaining 13.8%.

ANAR's research has also determined that many of the missing children are raised in complex and often problematic family and social environments. In 12% of cases, gender violence is detected, in a similar percentage there are addictions and psychological abuse, with between 9% and 10% of cases also involving physical abuse and aggression. Mental health problems in their environment are present in half of the cases, while violence against minors exists in 27%, and other issues, such as relationship difficulties, legal problems, child poverty, or immigration, are detected in 23%.

In most cases, the problems surrounding, and perhaps contributing to, the child's or adolescent's disappearance have been ongoing for more than a year, and the cases attended to can be classified as highly severe or complex. This is demonstrated by the fact that in 82% of cases, ANAR had to provide the child or their family with psychological, social, and legal guidance, involving all its specialists.

The urgency and severity of the situations are also demonstrated by the fact that on 1,347 occasions, the issue had to be referred to external child protection agencies, with 259 emergency interventions by police, emergency teams, healthcare providers, and social and child protection services.

Benjamín Ballesteros, Technical Director of the ANAR Foundation, highlights that some of these urgent interventions also involve the families of the missing, as the absence of children and adolescents is "one of the most difficult and traumatic experiences a human being can endure, and as a consequence, fear, anxiety, sadness, addictions, or suicidal behaviour are some of the most common problems families experience following the disappearance of their child."