Missing Boronia schoolgirl Bung Siriboon features in Invisible Friends Facebook campaign
AS THE seventh anniversary of her disappearance approaches, a new campaign has launched to find missing Boronia schoolgirl Bung Siriboon.
South East
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ORGANISERS of a new missing persons campaign say becoming Facebook friends with missing schoolgirl Siriyakorn ‘Bung’ Siriboon could be the key to finding her.
Bung disappeared on June 2, 2011, after setting off from her home in Elsie St, Boronia to make the 10-minute walk to school.
She was aged 13 at the time.
Almost seven years on, Bung is featured as one of 10 missing person profiles in the Invisible Friends campaign launched by the Missing Persons Advocacy Network.
The campaign uses facial recognition and auto-tagging technology through Facebook to detect the faces of missing persons in photos or videos shared online.
Facebook users are encouraged to add the profiles of missing persons as friends to cast the net of connections wider, thereby increasing the chances of a missing person being digitally recognised.
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If a missing person’s face is detected, Facebook will automatically tag the profile and notify the network.
Bung’s stepfather Fred Pattison said the website has put a renewed focus on their ongoing search.
“It’s another step in helping people find missing people and it’s a good idea,” he said.
“Somebody out there obviously knows something, she didn’t just vanish into thin air.”
Mr Pattison said the search efforts continued on a daily basis and he was in touch with detectives about once a month to check in on the investigation.
“We still miss her, the community misses her, her friends miss her. We’re still waiting for the day she comes back.
“We can only say the same thing we’ve always said: if you’ve got any information, or any details you’ve been to scared to come forward with in the past, please come forward to Crime Stoppers.”
A reward of up to $1 million for information leading to the apprehension and subsequent conviction of the person or persons responsible for Bung’s disappearance was announced in February 2014.
Police spokeswoman Nat Webster said:
“It is important that anyone with information about a missing person reports that through to police or via Crime Stoppers, whether that information is as a result of technology, through a direct sighting, or any other method.”
Missing Persons Advocacy Network Network founder and chief executive Loren O’Keeffe said the technology was far more effective than designing, printing and taping missing persons posters on phone poles.
“We’re excited about any new resource that can alleviate the emotion, physical and mental strain on those left behind,” she said.
Ms O’Keefe said if Bung’s page reached 5000 friends that would equate to about 1.5 million profiles of friends of friends helping with the search.
To add Bung as a friend on Facebook, visit invisiblefriends.com.au