What actually happens when someone goes missing — and how do investigators decide whether a person is lost, hiding, in danger, or simply somewhere they chose to be?
In this episode of No One Is Coming, Lance Still looks past the milk cartons, missing-child headlines, true-crime mythology, and television detectives to examine how missing-person investigations really work. From the disappearance of Etan Patz and the fear that shaped a generation of parents and children, to the enduring myth that you have to wait 24 hours before reporting someone missing, the episode explores what “missing” actually means — and why very different situations can end up carrying the same label.
You’ll hear how law enforcement and private investigators assess risk, why circumstances matter more than an arbitrary clock, what investigators need to know in the first hours, and how search-and-rescue teams use lost-person behavior, terrain, probability models, and tools like FIND to decide where limited search resources should go.
The episode also looks at wellness checks, long-term missing-person cases, the role of ordinary people who notice when something is wrong, and an uncomfortable reality: finding a competent adult does not necessarily mean returning them to the people who were looking for them.
Then the perspective flips. What happens when you are the missing person? We examine why hikers miss decision points, how confirmation bias and sunk-cost thinking can keep people moving in the wrong direction, what search experts mean by “bending the map,” and why the STOP framework — Stop, Think, Observe, Plan — can help when you realize you are lost.
Finally, the episode turns practical: what to do if someone you know goes missing, what police and search teams need to know in the first hours, why honesty matters even when the facts are embarrassing, how location-sharing and trip plans can make someone easier to find, and what you can do now to give the people looking for you a better place to start.
Featuring:
Robert J. Koester, PhD, FRGS, FInSTR: Internationally recognized search-and-rescue researcher and practitioner; CEO of dbS Productions LLC; Co-Editor of the Journal of Search & Rescue; Visiting Researcher at the University of Portsmouth; and Search Mission Coordinator with the Virginia Department of Emergency Management. His work on lost-person behavior examines how different categories of missing people move, make decisions, and respond once they realize they are lost.
John Ferriso: Former NYPD officer who served from 1993 to 2013 and spent part of his 20-year career assigned to the Missing Persons Squad, where he supervised and investigated missing-person cases. He now runs Ferris Investigations and works as a police-procedural technical advisor.
Meaghan Good: Founder of The Charley Project, an extensive online database profiling missing-person cases. She founded the project in 2004 and has maintained it as her vocation ever since.
Jay J. Armes III: Second-generation international private investigator and Founder, President & Chief Investigator of Armes International Investigative Services LLC. Licensed as a private investigator at 18, Armes has spent four decades investigating missing persons, kidnappings, homicides, threats, fraud, and other complex cases in the United States and internationally.
Learn more about the episode and find transcripts, expert information, and preparedness resources at nooneiscomingpodcast.com.
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No One Is Coming is survival for the non-camo crowd: a documentary podcast about disasters, uncertainty, and what ordinary people can do before the plan falls apart.
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