In my many years of working the crime beat as a reporter and columnist, I’ve covered stories ranging from murder to sex crimes, but I’ve never covered a missing person case.
I recently visited the Philadelphia Police Department’s Crime Blotter website. I saw a large number of notices of missing persons. My heart goes out to the listed missing people, especially the young ones, and their grieving families.
I reached out to Gary Capuano, a retired Philadelphia Police sergeant, and asked him about missing person cases.
“I worked as a detective in Southwest Philadelphia from 2005 to 2014,” Capuano said. “During that time, I handled countless missing person cases. The hard truth? Most involved juveniles who failed to come home from school — if they went at all.
“In more than a few cases, parents waited days before reporting their child missing. While police treat every report seriously and follow strict protocol, seasoned investigators can often recognize when a case is likely a runaway rather than an abduction. Many of these situations reflected a lack of supervision, structure, and accountability at home. There is no licensing exam for parenthood—but perhaps there should be.”
Capuano noted that one case stood out to him. A grandmother reported her granddaughter missing but didn’t know the child’s legal name — only a stage name, “Sexual Chocolate.” That moment captured, for him, the deeper dysfunction behind many of these missing person reports.
“To be clear, genuine missing person cases exist. Some are tragic, urgent, and terrifying. When a report comes in, officers immediately search the home and surrounding area. Detectives check hospitals, the morgue, and custody records, broadcast alerts, enter information into national databases, and coordinate with specialized units when necessary. These cases consume enormous time and manpower—resources that are already stretched thin.
“Police will always do the job. But law enforcement cannot, and should not, be expected to replace responsible parenting. For families caring for loved ones with Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, Down syndrome, or other cognitive impairments should consider programs such as SafetyNet by LoJack, which provides tracking bracelets equipped with GPS technology to help locate individuals who wander. Families should research enrollment procedures and associated costs.”
I asked Capuano how detectives work missing person cases.
“When a missing person report is taken, officers immediately search the home and surrounding areas, including garages, abandoned vehicles and homes, containers, alleys and other nearby places,” Capuno explained. “Children under ten years old who go missing are classified as ‘tender age,’ which increases the urgency of the response. After an officer takes the initial report, the assigned detective then has many tasks to complete such as interviewing the person who filed the missing persons report, ensure that a photograph of the missing individual is obtained, and that a message to police radio is sent so that police dispatchers can broadcast the missing person's information such as identifying and background information so all officers are made aware of who to look for.
“Investigators will check local hospitals, the morgue, as well as police custody records to see if the missing person has been recently arrested. After these things are completed, the missing individual will be entered into the NCIC/PCIC systems. There are also the missing endangered who are missing under suspicious, unexplained or involuntary circumstances or has an issue such as poor health or a physical or mental disability. Then there are Amber Alerts for abducted children. PA State Police work with the PPD with Amber Alerts and the Missing Endangered. An investigator on every tour for the first 24 hours will keep in contact with the family and then again within three days.”
Capuano explained that re-interviews are also done. If the person is still missing, contact will be made weekly with the family. All missing people who have returned are interviewed by the assigned detective regarding the circumstances of their absence. Crime scene logs are kept, Command Posts are set up, Public Affairs is notified so that they can have a line of communication with the media, and specialized units such as Aviation, Canine, Special Victims and the Marine Unit are notified.
“There are calls you never forget. A missing child is one of them,” Capuano said. “I have worked many cases in my career, but few compare to standing in front of parents whose child has vanished. As a father of three, those scenes hit differently. I see not just victims — I see myself. I see my own family. And I cannot begin to imagine the depth of terror they are feeling in that moment. But as investigators, we do not have the luxury of breaking down. We must remain calm, focused and methodical.
“Parents of a missing child are living through every parent’s worst nightmare. Their emotions are raw and unpredictable, such as panic, grief, anger, confusion, even guilt. In those moments, we are not just detectives. We become part investigator, part counselor, part emotional anchor. We answer the same questions over and over. We offer reassurance when we ourselves are still searching for answers. We try to steady people whose world has just collapsed. And sometimes, they turn on us. They believe we are not doing enough. Not moving fast enough. Not treating the case with the urgency it deserves. That anger is not personal — it is fear looking for somewhere to land.
“When your child is missing, time feels like the enemy, and anyone who cannot produce immediate results feels like an obstacle. There are also difficult moments when a parent’s reaction does not match what most people expect. Some appeared detached, calm, or even indifferent. Trauma manifests differently in every person. As investigators, we cannot rely on emotion to guide us, only the facts. What makes these cases uniquely difficult is the balance we must strike. Even as we empathize, we must remain cautious. Every possibility must be considered. Every fact, verified. Every timeline, scrutinized. We cannot allow emotion — our own or theirs — to cloud the objectivity the investigation demands.”
Capuano stated that it was uncomfortable to admit, but detectives look at everyone with a careful eye, including the parents.
“Not because we want to, but because we have to. These investigations are races against time. There is tremendous uncertainty, and every decision carries consequences. Leads must be prioritized. Resources allocated. Information filtered carefully. And all the while, we know that if the outcome is tragic, every step we took will be dissected and second-guessed.
The “Monday morning quarterbacking” begins before the case is even closed. That pressure is real. What the public rarely sees is that investigators carry these cases home. We replay interviews in our minds. We revisit timelines. We question whether we missed something. A missing child case demands more than procedure. It demands resilience, compassion, discipline, and emotional control — often simultaneously. It requires us to steady others while containing our own fears. At the end of the day, beneath the badge, many of us are parents too. And we know exactly what is at stake.”
