Searching for missing women

What would you do if a loved one went missing? Kim Chakanetsa talks to two women whose lives have been touched by a missing person’s case, and now help other families find answers.

Dr Chung Pham is an anti-trafficking specialist from Vietnam. When she was a teenager, she stopped the initial abduction of a schoolmate, who was later trafficked into China. After relocating to the UK, Chung became an advocate for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, often victims of trafficking or modern slavery. This inspired her to join Locate International, a charity helping relatives of missing people find their loved ones.

Dr Michelle Jeanis is an assistant professor in the Criminal Justice department at University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Her research focuses on the best practices to help locate people who disappear and on the media coverage of missing people’s cases. She decided to study this topic after her friend’s sister, Mickey Shunik, disappeared in 2012.

Produced by Alice Gioia

(Image: (L) Michelle Jeanis, credit Scarlett Davis. (R) Chung Pham, credit Hong Van.)