NSW: Missing persons remembered at service in Sydney

AAP General News (Australia)
08-03-2008
NSW: Missing persons remembered at service in Sydney

SYDNEY, Aug 3 AAP - Friends and families of missing people today released balloons
into the air at a service in Sydney to remember their loved ones.

To mark the beginning of National Missing Persons Week, NSW police joined families
of missing people at the service in Arncliffe, in Sydney's south.

The service was to raise awareness of missing persons and the plight of their families,
Inspector Mark McCallum said.

"The service unites people who have shared a similar experience of losing a loved one,
and often it can be devastating for the people left behind with so many unanswered questions,"

he said.

"The service heightens community awareness of the difficulties faced by families and
friends of missing persons."

During 2007, more than 10,700 people were reported missing in NSW, with more than half
of them aged 16 or under.

Police statistics also show that girls aged between 13 and 15 are the most common missing
persons.

The figures show young people go missing for a variety of reasons including escaping
from violence, bullying, drugs or alcohol abuse, depression and rebellion.

AAP sg/ldj/cdh

KEYWORD: YOUNG NSW (PIX TO COME)

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