Hannah Hammoud
Across Australia, there are about 2500 cases of long-term missing persons.
Nicole Morris is the director of Australian Missing Persons Register (AMPR), a not-for-profit association dedicated to assisting families and friends of missing persons.
Founded by Ms Morris more than 18 years ago, AMPR utilises its website and Facebook group with an audience of more than 177,000 people to search for missing individuals.
Ms Morris said a long-term missing person is someone who has been missing for more than three months.
In 2005 Ms Morris created the register featuring profiles of long-term missing persons in the country – a decision she said was sparked after finding out there was no national database.
“I thought to myself, what happens when a person goes missing? They don’t just disappear,” she said.
Ms Morris’ register shares the circumstances of long-term missing persons, such as missing Footscray woman, Shari Davison.
Shari Davison’s profile lists that she has been missing since February 18, 1995 and was last seen in Footscray.
The profile reveals the circumstances of Shari’s disappearance, where at 2am that day, she attended the Crown Casino in the company of a male friend where they stayed until about 7am.
The profile continues with further details where she is believed to have left and travelled to her home in Ballarat Road, Footscray by taxi.
At about 2.45pm that day, Shari attended a local service station and made several phone calls, but has since not been seen.
In 2020, police announced a $1 million reward in relation to Shari’s disappearance.
Ms Morris said when it comes to missing persons, the role of the public is “absolutely vital”.
“Some people might have something they’ve had in the back of their mind for years, and when information is released about the person… it might spark their memory and a tip can lead to a case being solved,” she said.
“It is never too late to come forward with information.”
If you have any information about a missing person you can contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or go to www.crimestoppers.com.au.
