Source: Northern Territory Police and Fire Services
Members of the ACT Policing Missing Persons team. Left to right: Senior Constable Colleen McKillop, Superintendent Scott Moller, and Detective Sergeant Emma Quade.
What happened to me? This is the question being asked by police this Missing Persons Week.
ACT Policing has a dedicated missing persons team responsible for investigating and collaborating with interstate teams to explore missing persons cases.
In Australia, 55,000 people are reported missing each year. While most are found within a few hours or days, the annual Missing Persons Week serves as a reminder for those who have not been found.
There are currently 14 long-term missing people in the ACT – people who have been missing for more than three months. These cases remain open and continue to be a priority for ACT Policing.
“There are various reasons why people go missing. There is no typical missing persons case or outcome,” Superintendent Scott Moller said.
“The families are still looking for the answers, they’ve got a lot of unresolved questions, as we do. We will keep pursuing these investigations until we have an outcome.”
“Some cases are resolved quickly, but that’s not always the case. Sometimes we end up with cases that are years and decades old,” Detective Sergeant Emma Quade said.
“We never close a case until we know what has happened. We find in unsolved matters, as time passes people are more inclined to provide police with information.
“We think that information is frequently overlooked. There are a lot of people that have information that they don’t consider to be relevant, but it is often minor things that is the key factor for us to be able to pursue a new avenue to locate somebody,” Emma said.
Missing Persons Week runs from 30 July to 5 August 2023.
If you have information regarding a missing person or would like to submit details into a missing persons case, please contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
You can provide information anonymously.
The ACT Policing team can be contacted directly via email at ACT-LTMP@afp.gov.au.
ACT 2023 Profile Missing Person: Robert (Robbie) Jacob
- Year of birth: 1959
- Age now: 63
- Gender: Male
- Height: 179cm
- Build: Thin
- Hair: Dark Brown, Grey
- Eyes: Brown
Circumstances:
Robbie was last seen at the Civic bus interchange in Canberra City on Thursday, 12 November 2015.
Robbie regularly checked in with his children, often a few times a week, and if he wasn’t with his children, he was always around others in the community.
His daughter reported him missing after uncharacteristically not hearing from her father over the preceding weeks.
His left thumb has limited mobility, he has tattoos on both arms and at the time of his disappearance he had medical issues.
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