Center for Problem-Oriented Policing

POP Center Problems Missing Persons, 2nd Ed. Page 3

Responses to the Problem of Missing Persons

Your analysis of your local missing persons problem should give you a better understanding of the factors contributing to it. Once you have analyzed your local problem and established a baseline for measuring effectiveness, you should consider possible responses to address the problem.

The following response strategies provide a foundation of ideas for addressing your particular problem. These strategies are drawn from a variety of research studies and police reports. Several of these strategies may apply to your community’s problem.

It is critical that you tailor responses to local circumstances and that you can justify each response based on reliable analysis. In most cases, an effective strategy will involve implementing several different responses. Law enforcement responses alone are seldom effective in reducing or solving the problem.

Do not limit yourself to considering what police can do: rather, carefully consider whether others in your community share responsibility for the problem and can help police better respond to it. The responsibility of responding, in some cases, may need to be shifted toward those who have the capacity to implement more effective responses. (For more detailed information on shifting and sharing responsibility, see Response Guide No. 3, Shifting and Sharing Responsibility for Public Safety Problems.)

General considerations for an effective response strategy

1. Collaborating with other agencies. Create formal partnerships with other law enforcement agencies, schools, hospitals, care facilities, fire and rescue agencies, and other stakeholders to create prevention and intervention strategies. Consider establishing a missing persons advisory committee comprising representatives of all key agencies. Establish search protocols with fire, emergency, and other police personnel to coordinate search resources (e.g., canine, aviation, and dive resources).¹²⁷ Having partnership agreements with other agencies and organizations in a position to provide assistance in such serious cases will dramatically increase the likelihood of quickly resolving a case.

A significant issue is the use of agency records to locate missing persons. Finding out if missing persons are in jail may be relatively easy for police, but finding out if they are in the hospital, in a domestic violence shelter, or enrolled in a school in another state is more difficult.

To access school records, medical and dental care records, child welfare records, domestic violence shelters, and runaway shelter records, you will have to negotiate memoranda of understanding (MOU) with a number of different agencies and will need parental consent in cases involving the release of juvenile records.¹²⁸ Time is lost during the critical early hours of a missing persons investigation if police are forced to get court orders to find out if a person has been admitted to or released from a hospital or a psychiatric facility or is present in a juvenile guardian home. Limited information may be available; in the case of domestic violence shelters, confidentiality is required by federal statute, and police are not exempt from such restrictions.¹²⁹

Even other government agencies may not release information that could help in missing persons cases. Since 2016, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has been authorized to release information about the location of persons filing tax returns who are believed to be fugitive parents who have abducted their children.¹³⁰ The Social Security numbers of abducted children and their abductors often appear on tax returns, along with their current location.

a.  Working with social service agencies. Collaborating with social service agencies can reduce the amount of time police spend on cases and can especially contribute to a reduction of repeat runaways and repeat dementia wandering cases. Establish collaborations for sharing agencies’ proprietary databases.¹³¹ Collaboration with domestic violence shelters, juvenile guardian homes, assisted living facilities, and family respite programs can prevent persons from going missing and can develop placement facilities and other options for at-risk persons.

Domestic violence shelters may be housing persons who have been reported as missing, and you will need to develop close working relationships to protect privacy but also resolve missing persons cases. Counseling centers and various advocacy groups can provide police with information about their client group.

Child protection agencies and foster care providers can provide data about placement numbers, high-risk persons, and those missing from care; they may also be able to provide detailed information after the return of missing children, such as the location of the child while missing and persons involved in the child’s going missing.

Share your police missing persons report form with child welfare agencies so they will know what sort of information police need in missing persons cases.

b.  Working with family court. Work with family court to provide services in custody disputes and contentious divorces and in cases of domestic violence, including training and information about cross-cultural and international marriages. The Fresno (California) Police Department developed a model program to reduce child custody disputes and provide controlled exchange environments for parents with no contact between the exchanging parties. A safe exchange program, involving formal authorities, for parents sharing custody of children may help to reduce the temptation to abduct children.

c.  Working with the prosecutor’s office. Prosecutors can provide information about orders of protection and child custody status and about the status of laws regarding police access to information (e.g., active cell phone records and “pings”). In family abductions, police will have to verify the most recent custody orders and work with the custodial parent to retrieve information and authorizations for information from schools and medical facilities. Significant federal legislation affecting child abduction cases exists, but you should also become familiar with legislation in your state and consider regular training sessions with prosecutors’ offices.¹³²

d.  Working with social service and nonprofits that serve homeless, mentally ill, or sex worker populations. Partnerships with local homeless service providers, mental health centers, and groups that provide services for sex workers have found success in lowering the number of these types of missing persons cases.¹³³

Mental health centers and veterans’ services, including hospitals, may be able to provide information to help locate missing persons. The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) provides guidance for families of the homeless or mentally ill.¹³⁴ Families of missing mentally ill adults may need to consider involuntary commitment options, guardianship and conservatorship laws in their state, and other options for community mental health treatment.

Model strategies exist for identification programs for sex workers in the event that they are suspected victims of foul play.¹³⁵ Agencies that work closely with sex workers may be able to enlist them to help locate their missing.

e.  Working with coroners and medical examiners. Coroners and medical examiners can work with police agencies to provide DNA, fingerprint, X-ray, and dental information on unidentified dead for upload into the NamUs system, permitting a national search and a possible match to missing persons across the country. The Doe Network, a volunteer organization in existence since 2000, also provides another resource for information on unresolved missing persons and unidentified dead cases.

f.  Working with schools. To release school records, it may be necessary to obtain parents’ or other guardians’ written consent. Developing joint protocols and record-sharing agreements between schools and police can reduce the amount of time police spend gathering necessary information. Schools can also serve as primary places for prevention by educating teachers and staff about the warning signs of runaway or abduction and by providing information on social services available. San Diego (California) police developed a model worksheet as part of a school-based program for educating children and parents about what to do when parents do not arrive to pick their children up; the worksheet included information about children’s routes to and from school and the names and phone numbers of their friends. When schools keep this information, police may not even be contacted about a missing child because the child is discovered by parents or school officials.¹³⁶ Connecting the families of schoolchildren who go missing for benign reasons with social service resources can help prevent repeat events.

g.  Working with medical providers. Medical providers can work with police to identify patients in health care facilities who have been reported as missing. You should seek to develop joint protocols and record-sharing agreements that allow for parental consent for release of medical records of juveniles or of those under other guardianship (e.g., for use with Silver Alerts in cases where medical issues are necessary for alert).

h.  Working with foster care and children’s guardian homes. Educate child welfare providers to assure they have recent photographs of all children in their care. Ensure that police have access to child welfare representatives 24 hours a day. Establish policies for what to do when a missing child is located, including in another jurisdiction. Enhance collaboration and cooperation—e.g., by creating joint protocols for handling missing-from-care cases. Engage in joint training. Children’s guardian homes should immediately notify police when a child is missing from care and provide recent photographs and other information (e.g., family and friends, previous missing episodes, substance use  issues).

i.  Working with high-risk facilities. At facilities from which clients frequently go missing, such as child guardian homes, assisted living facilities, nursing homes, and mental health institutions, develop reliable and dignified identification systems for persons who might not have the mental capacity to report their identity or residence if they are located. With appropriate attention to consent and privacy, encourage facility managers to make location-tracking technology available to clients who are at risk of going missing (see response No. 8 in appendix A).

Assisted living facilities can also provide information, including recent photographs of residents, their previous missing episodes, and their possible destinations.

j.  Working with state- and national-level missing persons clearinghouses. State missing persons clearinghouses can provide information about nonprofits, private agencies, and other entities that can provide assistance. For those cases where a child is thought to be in jeopardy, Team Adam provides police with extensive resources, including search-and-rescue, computer forensics, equipment, and family advocacy for cases involving missing and abducted children as well as sexually exploited children. Team Adam members include retired police professionals who provide free assistance at the site through a program run by NCMEC.¹³⁷

Entities such as NamUs can provide information about the characteristics of the unidentified dead across the United States for possible matches to missing persons and can publicize details of active missing persons cases. The Doe Network also contains information on thousands of unidentified dead and missing persons cases, and their volunteers have successfully brought case closure to many families.¹³⁸

k.  Working with local media. Media can be a critical resource for distributing information to the local community and for encouraging civilians to share information with police. The media have been criticized for giving greater coverage to cases in which young, White, physically attractive women are missing than to other cases;139 whatever criteria media use to determine coverage, you shouldn’t take for granted that all cases will receive the coverage you desire.

l.  Working with employers. Employers may be able to provide information about a missing person’s last whereabouts, as well as fingerprint and other contact information.

m.  Working with tribal police and Tribal Governments. A major goal of the MMIP Coordinator positions created by the U.S. Attorney General in 2020 was to use a best-practices guideline, written by the tribes, for missing persons cases and assist the tribes in developing their own Tribal Community Response Plans (TCRP) designed around their culture, demographics, resources, and geography. It promotes a collaborative approach, with law enforcement, victim services, media, and community working together on missing persons cases. The pilot TCRPs were created in Montana, Michigan, and Alaska and have been shown to be successful.

Partnerships between tribal and local law enforcement agencies can strengthen their efforts to prevent and effectively respond to MMIP cases using a fair, victim-centered, and trauma-informed approach. Tribal, federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies have various tools to support communication and collaborative efforts to prevent and respond effectively to MMIP cases, including MOUs or memoranda of agreement (MOA) and other relationship-enhancing and shared-resource documents.

The U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) has established an initiative for effective multijurisdictional collaboration in MMIP cases. The initiative includes training and technical assistance on MMIP partnerships; MOU/MOA development, implementation, and administration; and developing model protocols and procedures for handling new and unresolved MMIP cases (See Appendix C).

2. Training police and other emergency response personnel. Training increases understanding of the different categories of missing persons, improving information- gathering, search, and post-recovery responses.¹⁴⁰ All police officers handling missing persons cases should also be trained in legislation, liability, orders of protection and orders of custody, case management, search issues, and working with families. Dispatchers, as the first point of contact, should also be trained in how to calm reporting persons and get accurate and necessary information. Police may also need training in managing children’s return and offering additional resources, how to interview recovered missing persons, when to seek physical exams for them, and when to use referral services such as mental health professionals.* Police, fire and emergency rescue personnel and volunteers might also benefit from some aspects of missing persons response training, particularly for cases involving search and rescue.¹⁴¹ In the United Kingdom, specially trained police search advisers (PolSA) are available to assist in gathering information and developing a search strategy for missing persons.¹⁴²

* Training opportunities exist through the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention’s Missing and Exploited Children Training and Technical Assistance Program, (https://ojjdp.ojp.gov/tta-provider/missing-and-exploited-children-training-and-technical-assistance-program-mectta), NamUs (https://namus.nij.ojp.gov/events/upcoming-events), and NCMEC (https://www.missingkids.org/education/training).

3. Educating the public.* Encourage families and caregivers to keep up-to-date pictures of children and others at risk of going missing. Encourage people to call the police immediately when someone is missing and to let the police know when the missing person has returned or when their whereabouts are known. Increasing public awareness of the importance of prompt reports to police is critical, because delayed reporting hampers searches and investigations.¹⁴³

Encourage reporting of the “missing missing.” Implement programs that allow sex workers and homeless persons to share information about possible missing persons with police without putting themselves at risk of arrest or harassment. Programs such as the Arlington, Texas, citizen notification and CrimeWeb program provide a ZIP code– and Internet-based email alert system for public safety issues, including missing persons.¹⁴⁴

Even though the effectiveness of many child abduction awareness and education programs is unknown, logic suggests that you should not limit prevention messages to the relatively rare abductions by strangers (“stranger danger”). Prevention messages should also cover abductions by acquaintances, including teaching children rules about going places, even with someone they know.

* See Response Guide No. 5, Crime Prevention Publicity Campaigns for further information.

4. Mandating reporting of missing children. The Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act, 42 U.S.C. § 671 (a)(35) was enacted in September 2014. State agencies had two years to comply with the requirement to report all missing children to NCMEC. As a result, intakes rose dramatically between 2015 and 2017. This pattern also held true for Indigenous children.¹⁴⁵

Specific responses to missing persons

5. Enhancing information gathered from reporting parties. The standard preliminary police investigation of a reported missing person can be enhanced by asking the reporting party to complete a self-administered form that prompts them to recall details about the missing person’s description, state of mind, actions just prior to going missing, and habits. This self-administered form might be completed prior to the responding officer’s arrival, while the officer is at the scene, or after the officer has left. A well-designed form based on the science of memory recall can help the reporter recall potentially important details. It can also suggest tasks the reporter and others concerned about the missing person can perform to further assist the police investigation and search. This deeper engagement can help alleviate reporters’ anxiety and sense of helplessness ¹⁴⁶ Establishing a means by which the reporters can relay new information to police on an ongoing basis can further enhance this technique. Caretakers for people at high risk of going missing can be encouraged to complete and save forms that provide details about the at-risk person that they can give to responding officers, thereby speeding up the information-gathering phase and getting the search underway more quickly. Alternatively, caretakers might enter this information into an online form that police can readily access.¹⁴⁷

6. Enhancing case files.* The identification of missing persons can be facilitated with additional information from dental records, DNA, and fingerprints. Many states’ laws require that dental records be requested and retrieved for all missing persons after some period (typically 30–60 days). Despite these laws, one study found that dental records had been obtained for only four percent of missing persons.¹⁴⁸ It is critical to have at least the name of the missing person’s dentist on file if remains are found at some point.¹⁴⁹ Although dental records, DNA, and fingerprints are most likely to be used to match remains with known identities, this evidence can also be used to identify living located missing persons in cases of amnesia and other cognitive dysfunctions, as well as to identify infants or children who had been abducted but who may be recovered years later.

* See Morewitz and Sturdy Colls Handbook of Missing Persons (2016) for further information. The volume includes several chapters devoted to forensic analysis of unidentified remains.

Legally accepted methods of identifying the dead include visual identification by next of kin, fingerprints and footprints, dental records, and DNA. The National Dental Image / Information Repository (NDIR) allows storage of dental information for missing, unidentified, and wanted persons—more information than can be entered into NCIC. NamUs also stores and shares dental information.

DNA can be the critical connection for matching the unidentified dead to missing persons cases.¹⁵⁰ DNA can be submitted to the FBI’s National Missing Person DNA Database, and DNA profiles of family members can also be included in the NamUs files for missing and unidentified persons. The FBI’s Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) and National DNA Index System (NDIS) store DNA profiles from across the United States.¹⁵¹ Backlogs in DNA analysis interfere with a local police agency’s ability to successfully and timely resolve missing persons cases. Despite major efforts to speed up laboratory analysis in missing persons cases, national, state, regional, and local labs still struggle to keep up with growing demand.¹⁵² The NamUs system includes access to a DNA laboratory that is available free to police working on missing persons and unidentified dead cases, and it is assisting with the overall DNA backlog in these cases.¹⁵³

Fingerprints, when available, can also be collected and added to missing persons case reports. The U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology program (US-VISIT) fingerprints most non-U.S. citizens who enter the United States. Although the primary goal of this program is the identification of suspected terrorists, persons with criminal histories, and undocumented immigrants, in the event that these persons later go missing, authorities should remember that their fingerprints are likely on file with US-VISIT.¹⁵⁴ Similar programs exist in other countries, and these could serve as information sources in cases of international abductions.

7. Promoting the use of endangered-missing advisories. The AMBER (America’s Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response) Alert system allows the media to generate public service announcements in cases of abducted children that meet specific criteria and thereby generate a short-term intense focus on that missing child.* AMBER Alerts were implemented by state by state and initially were intended for cases of abductions by strangers, but they have been expanded to include abductions by others, including family members. Once it has been established that an abduction has occurred, that the case has been entered into NCIC, that the child (age 17 or younger) is in danger, and that information exists to allow for a description of the victim and suspect, police can provide the information to the media, which can then broadcast alerts.¹⁵⁵ Facebook and NCMEC have launched a partnership to make AMBER Alerts available to Facebook users who live in the geographic area of the AMBER Alert.¹⁵⁶ In addition, a new national alert plan, the Personal Localized Alerting Network (PLAN), will alert the public to geographically targeted emergencies, including AMBER Alerts and other missing persons alerts via text messages to cell phones.¹⁵⁷ Participating wireless carriers will be able to distribute these alerts to persons with cell phones containing special chips and software. As of 2022, AMBER Alerts had been credited with helping recover 1,127 (an average of 43 annually) children in the United States.^158,† The state of Washington created the first MIP Alert, similar to an AMBER or Silver Alert for missing Indigenous persons.

* AMBER Alert was part of the 2003 Congressional PROTECT Act (Prosecutorial Remedies and Other Tools to End the Exploitation of Children Today). Similar AMBER Alert systems operate in Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Canada, and U.S. Indian country, and a Child Rescue Alert system operates in the United Kingdom. For detailed guidance on managing AMBER Alerts, see Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (2019a, 2019b).

† Annual AMBER Alert reports that summarize an analysis of alerts and recoveries can be accessed from the NCMEC website at https://www.missingkids.org/gethelpnow/amber.

Silver Alerts were originally intended to facilitate searches for older adults with mental  impairments, but most state adoptions of the Silver Alert program extend the coverage to all mentally impaired persons 18 and over. Unlike AMBER alerts, there is no nationally coordinated program, but most U.S. states have developed Silver Alert systems.¹⁵⁹

As missing persons alerts of all types increase, so too does the risk that the public will become less attentive to them, thereby making them less effective.¹⁶⁰ AMBER alerts are not as effective at preventing harm to children as many would like to believe they are: Most alerts are related to child custody disputes rather than to stranger abductions, and children are seldom located within the short time period in which children tend to be harmed if their abductor intends to do so.¹⁶¹ Until research is more definitive, on balance it makes sense for police to continue issuing AMBER and Silver alerts, doing their best to issue them when there is reason to believe the risk to the missing child, senior, or disabled person is high and there is a reasonable chance of the public spotting the missing person or a vehicle in which they are believed to be.

Some jurisdictions have found innovative ways to bring longer-term attention to unresolved missing children cases. The Washington State Patrol’s Homeward Bound Project worked with trucking companies and other interested parties to place large pictures of missing children on the sides of commercial trailers to create rolling billboards that would be seen by many more people over a wider area than stationary alerts. One of their selected missing children was recovered as a result of the publicity.¹⁶²

Also, the Federal Communications Commission has proposed rules for a new emergency alert code, Ashanti Alerts, intended to provide additional tools to increase law enforcement’s ability to find missing Native and Indigenous people.¹⁶³

8. Promoting the use of search and information technology. Technological innovations can aid in searches for missing persons, often enabling caretakers to find the missing person without police assistance. Project Lifesaver is a nonprofit organization that uses global positioning satellite (GPS) tracking devices to find persons with Alzheimer’s disease, autism spectrum disorders, and Down syndrome. Less costly short-range wireless devices such as radio frequency identification (RFID) or near field communication (NFC) have also been used.^164,* Such devices can shorten searches considerably. Even tracking the location of a missing person’s cell phone or other electronic device can be helpful in locating the person. As parents increasingly provide their children with cell phones, they are more likely to be able to locate their missing child without police assistance.¹⁶⁵ Sending text messages to the phone of a missing person from an organization that can ensure confidentiality can encourage the missing person to at least report that they are alive and safe or to accept assistance.¹⁶⁶

* See also the Avon and Somerset Constabulary’s (2019) responses to sexual exploitation of missing children.

GPS technology can also be programmed to send an alert if the person to whom it is attached travels outside a specified area. This helps safeguard people before they go missing.

For some missing persons, finding them physically is less difficult than identifying them and returning them to where they belong once they have been found. Technology such as near field communication and QR codes stores information electronically that can be read by police or others who encounter them, telling them who the wearer of the technology is, whom to contact if found, and where they belong.

iFIND is a software program developed in the United Kingdom that provides searchers guidance in looking in particular locations for missing persons based on an accumulated history of where other missing persons of a similar profile were located.¹⁶⁷

The increased deployment of surveillance cameras in public places—including the widespread use of doorbell cameras—has potential to enhance police investigations of missing persons. If the missing person’s location can be determined at any point in time, searching for camera footage in that vicinity might provide additional clues to guide the search for the missing person. Machine-learning technology can make searching large amounts of video footage, as well as other online information sources, more efficient.¹⁶⁸ The increased use of automated license plate readers by police is also likely to increase the probabilities of locating vehicles associated with missing persons alerts.

Databases containing information about persons known to be at high risk for going missing can also facilitate returning the person home when they are found. Irvine (California) police developed a model program for gathering biographical information, previous wandering patterns, current photographs (in digital format for ease of distribution), and cognitive information for at-risk persons with cognitive disorders.¹⁶⁹

The FBI has developed a mobile app, known as Child ID, for parents to store information about their children (e.g., height, weight, photos) on their cell phones, to be shared with police if the child goes missing.¹⁷⁰

9. Enlisting volunteers to support missing persons searches, investigations, and prevention. Many jurisdictions have implemented volunteer programs to assist police with programs relating to missing persons. Volunteers help in activities such as verifying addresses in sex offender registries, replacing batteries in electronic tracking devices, and assisting in active investigations by canvassing door to door, providing perimeter controls, providing relief services to police and other volunteers, helping with searches, answering phones, and maintaining missing persons files. There are model protocols for the recruitment, training, and coordination of civilian volunteers.¹⁷¹

10. Providing families with information and support. Information on the status of a missing persons investigation should be shared with family and friends, as allowed by law and as the investigation warrants. Families need to understand what to expect as investigations progress. For example, families need to know that if adults are voluntarily missing, police will not divulge their location when it is discovered if the missing persons request privacy. Designating a single person as the point of contact with the family or other reporter of the missing person is helpful. Families should also be apprised of counseling resources. Team HOPE offers support resources for families with missing and exploited children and can assist families in dealing with the psychological impacts of missing child cases. The Doe Network also provides support and assistance to the families of missing persons. The Australia Federal Police’s National Missing Persons Coordination Centre has a model program for family support; its website offers resources for dealing with ambiguous loss, common mental health issues for families of missing persons, continued support after the location of the missing person, and support services for the families of the long-term missing.¹⁷²

11. Facilitating at-risk persons’ return home. For missing persons found far from their home, returning them home can be a challenge. The Greyhound bus company provides free bus transportation home for recovered abducted and runaway children, in collaboration with NCMEC and the National Runaway Safeline (formerly “Switchboard”), respectively.¹⁷³ Many communities have emergency shelters operated by nonprofit organizations for runaway and at-risk children.

12. Ensuring proper cancellation of resolved cases. Remove recovered missing persons alerts from NCIC within three days of the person’s recovery. Follow up regularly with family members and other reporting parties to determine whether the missing person has returned. Reporters often neglect to notify police if the missing person is located without police assistance.

Beyond formally cancelling missing persons entries in NCIC, try to conduct follow-up interviews with the missing person and caretakers to learn more about why the person went missing, where they went, and what happened to them while they were missing. These interviews might be conducted by police but are probably better conducted by social service providers. Such interviews are required by law in the United Kingdom but not always conducted thoroughly or in timely fashion.¹⁷⁴ The information gathered might help prevent a repeat disappearance of that individual, and it will improve overall understanding of the circumstances under which people go missing in that jurisdiction. Also, periodically audit your police department’s missing persons case files to determine which missing persons remain missing.

13. Focusing on repeat missing persons. Link missing persons to appropriate social services when they return to prevent repeat occurrences and to improve future police responses.¹⁷⁵ The Lancashire (United Kingdom) Constabulary developed a model program for working with runaways and other missing children with a thorough post-return interview by persons with whom juveniles will feel comfortable sharing their experiences. This project focused on identifying children who had been subject to sexual exploitation and who may not have even recognized it themselves.¹⁷⁶

14. Planning for disasters and catastrophes. Conduct case scenario and tabletop exercises to prepare to effectively manage a large volume of missing persons cases after a tornado, flood, fire, hurricane, explosion, or other natural disaster. The International Committee of the Red Cross aids in finding missing persons after large- scale disasters through its “Restoring Family Links” web pages, which allow people to register the name of a missing person and contact details in the local language.¹⁷⁷

15. Promoting legislation that allows police access to information. Support legislation that allows police immediate access to cell phone records and computer activity for finding missing persons believed to be in imminent danger.*

* The Kelsey Smith Act remains pending in Congress as of this publication. Several states have already passed a version of this law that allows police to request and obtain call information from providers of mobile services when the case involves emergency situations that involve death or risk of physical harm and that are not necessarily yet criminal investigations.