The New Westminster Police Department recently took to social media to thank an alert citizen who helped locate a missing 92-year-old senior.
The police department recently took to social media to acknowledge one of the NWPD’s Instagram followers, who spotted a missing senior.
“This person saw our social media post appealing for help in locating this person, and they noticed that this person was sitting on the same bus as them,” said Hailey Finnigan, the NWPD’s strategic communications coordinator. “They called 911, and our officers met with this senior and drove them home to their friends and family.”
According to Finnigan, a 92-year-old man was reported missing on May 22 at 5 p.m.
“After several hours of searching, he was located after one of our followers recognized the missing senior which we posted about in our Instagram story,” she said. “We believe using social media increases the odds of missing persons being located.”
Social media has proven to be a valuable tool for helping police to locate missing persons.
“As soon as we have details about a missing person, we can share that with the public,” Finnigan said. “Social media platforms are built for sharing, and this allows our followers share our missing persons post and help spread awareness about the missing person.”
Long gone are the days where folks had to wait 24 hours to report someone as being missing.
“There is absolutely no need to wait any amount of time to report someone as missing,” Finnigan said. “In fact, the sooner you report someone missing, the chances are better that they will be found safe.”
Most people who are reported missing are found, Finnigan said.
“There is not a lot of data available about social media and missing person’s investigations, however, we feel it’s an important tool to use when it comes to getting the information out to the public,” she said.
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