The Dissapearance of Mr Davenheim

Tommy_A_Jones

I was listening to The Dissapearance of Mr Davenheim lastnight, could someone disappear of their own accord now?

MarcWatson-Gray

Just read that almost 250,000 people got missing each year in the U.K alone.Despite C.C.T.V. Credit cards,PIN numbers etc...........I can believe that it's still possible nowadays,but not in the numbers quoted.......Though i don't know whether or not that is long term or short term ??

tudes

Yes, I think so. Besides, I think in certain way it could be easier than in early times.

Tommy_A_Jones

I wonder what percentage go missing Voluntarily like Mr Davenheim did?

tudes

I really don't know. Sorry!

Griselda

Perhaps some of the missing people have been working under aliases, and revert to their old name, and the paper trail of National Insurance numbers etc, comes to a halt. Some might travel, and not return. I don't think there can be too much crime involved - Internet theft is easier than dealing with human beings.

Anubis

I expect that lots of people do disappear, voluntarily or otherwise, and are never seen again. When you think about it, any figure for the percentage of voluntary disappearances would have to be an estimate, since obviously you'll never know why they did disappear. Maybe you could estimate by seeing how many disappearances are of teenage boys or girls who had abusive parents. I think that if you were still alive and "they" really, really wanted to find you, they would. Could it be done today like Mr Davenheim did it? I have my doubts, especially with improved methods of identification. Besides, you'd have to be a terrific actor.

This brings to mind an anecdote from a Dashiell Hammett mystery (I think The Maltese Falcon [the novel, not the movie]), in which the detective is hired to trace a missing husband, who vanished one day. He finds him years later, in another town. On the day the husband went missing, he had just missed being killed by a falling girder, and the experienced unnerved him to such an extent that he decided to start a brand new life. The irony was that when the husband is found, he is living exactly the same kind of life that he ran away from.