Start searching yourself first. First check that the missing person has not gone to visit relatives or friends, for example. If they have gone missing previously, check the place at which the person was found at that time.
Search for the missing person in the surrounding area. If possible, ask your relatives and friends to help in the search.
Contact the closest hospital or social and health care centre and find out if the missing person has gone there or been taken there. Remember, however, that you are only entitled to receive information about the person if you have been reported as their close family member.
If the missing person is unable to take care of themselves (e.g., a child or a person who is elderly or sick or has a disability), report the missing person to the emergency number 112Opens in a new window.. Give the emergency response centre a precise description of the missing person, such as their name, appearance, height, hair colour, distinguishing features and the clothing they were last seen wearing.
If the missing person is found or they return home, notify the authorities you have reported the missing person to immediately i.e. the police or the emergency response centre.
The authorities will initiate the search for a missing person immediately if
the missing person is a child or elderly person, or they are unable to care for themselves due to an illness
weather conditions are dangerous
there are reasonable grounds to suspect a risk to life, an accident or a crime.
The responsibility for the search lies with the authorities:
Police: searches on land and inland waterways
Border Guard: searches at sea areas and borders
The police will often utilise the services of the Voluntary Rescue Service (Vapepa). The police may also order each adult capable of helping to assist in searching for a missing person at risk to life.
A person, who has been missing for a long time, often has tasks and obligations that need to be seen to. In this case, you can submit a notification to the Digital and Population Data Services Agency about a person in need of guardianship.
Declaring someone dead refers to a decision by the Digital and Population Data Services Agency that the missing person must be believed to be dead.
The close persons are not obligated to apply for the missing person to be declared dead. If you so wish, you can file an application for a person to be declared dead
five years from the last moment when the person was known to have been alive
in one year’s time if the case involves the probability of death
immediately if the person has gone missing, for example, in a serious accident and is likely to have died.
The application can be submitted
by the missing person’s spouse or person who has lived in a registered partnership with the missing person
the missing person’s heir or other close person, such as a cohabiting partner or sibling
any other person to whom the matter is of legal interest, such as the beneficiary of a will or the beneficiary of a life insurance.
The application for declaring a person dead is submitted to the district court in whose jurisdiction the missing person most recently had a municipality of residence.
A person may also be declared dead by a decision taken by the Digital and Population Data Services Agency at its own initiative. This will happen when 100 years have passed after the end of the missing person’s year of birth and five years after the year they were last seen alive.