Number of long-term missing people in Australia’s states and territories revealed

They have been missing for at least three months and in some cases, haven’t been seen or heard from in years. To mark Missing Persons Week, find out more about the long-term missing.

At least 38,000 people are reported missing to police every year in Australia but some do not make it home.

They are the long-term missing, where in some cases police and their families have been searching for answers for decades.

A long-term missing person refers to someone who has been missing for more than three months.

To mark Missing Persons Week 2023, News Corp Australia can reveal there is currently a total of 2623 long-term missing persons’ cases still open across the country.

The Australian Federal Police keeps profiles of 773 of these missing people on its website and includes people missing at sea, and those missing but presumed dead.

Some of the faces of long-term missing people in Australia.

Some cases even date back to 1945 to the case of Valerie Eastwell, who disappeared in the town of Gol Gol in NSW when she was eight years old, and other high-profile cases like the abductions and disappearances of Joanne Ratcliffe, 11, and four-year-old Kirste Gordon from Adelaide Oval in 1973.

News Corp used that AFP data to create a heat map showing where and when these people went missing.

Search for missing people in your area HERE:

According to the latest data from state and territory police departments, New South Wales has the most long-term missing people around the country with 816 people, followed by 559 in Victoria; 386 in Queensland; and 353 in Western Australia.

This is followed with 176 in Tasmania; 170 in Northern Territory; 149 in South Australia; and 14 in the Australian Capital Territory.

Former police officer turned investigative journalist Meni Caroutas recently released a six-part podcast called The Missing Australia, to shine a spotlight on a number of cold cases mysteries.

Caroutas said he created the podcast to “keep long-term missing persons cases alive”.

The Missing Australia’s podcast host Meni Caroutas.

“I don’t want missing people to be forgotten,” Caroutas said.

“It’s very important to keep looking for long term missing people, because they are someone’s loved one. They are mums, dads, sons, daughters, brothers and sisters and friends, and they are dearly missed.”

Caroutas said he believes most of these missing people are “victims of foul play” and that their killers need to be brought to justice.

“If we forget about long-term missing people, these killers will get away with murder, and no one should get away with murder,” he said.

To find out more about long-term missing people across the nation, listen to all episodes of The Missing Australia podcast.

Originally published as Number of long-term missing people in Australia’s states and territories revealed