The people searching for missing family members during the pandemic – podcast
Hannah’s brother Paul dropped out of contact almost a decade ago. She never stopped thinking about him – and, as it did for many others, the pandemic led her to try to find him again
In 2012, after years of increasing isolation, Hannah’s beloved brother Paul decided to drop out of contact. He is one of the tens of thousands of people who are sometimes described as the “unofficial missing”: adults who deliberately vanish. But during the coronavirus pandemic, the charity Missing People saw a surge in inquiries from people trying to track down those who had become estranged. Hannah was one of them.
Anushka Asthana speaks to Hannah about her search for Paul, and how she has reflected on the history of their relationship in the urgent new light of a global health crisis. We also hear from Kirsty Hillman, a lost contact supervisor at Missing People, about the uncertainty and prospects of sadness and joy that are part of every search – and the complexities of trying to make contact with those who have decided to disappear.