Our agency was approached by parents from Uzbekistan. Their son had traveled to Russia with a fairly large sum of money to buy a car. A day after he left, he stopped getting in touch, and his phone was switched off.
The parents, of course, were beside themselves with worry and came to Moscow themselves to look for their son.
The Darkest Thoughts
A young man, a large sum of money, a huge unfamiliar city, a silent phone — in a situation like this, relatives can’t help imagining the worst. Every day of not knowing drags on endlessly, and waiting for their son to turn up on his own was out of the question. The parents were ready to search for him themselves, and such determination is understandable. But in a city of millions, determination alone is not enough: it takes experience and method.
Why You Should Not Wait
Many people still believe that a missing person can be reported only after three days. This is a myth: in Russia, the police are obliged to accept a report immediately. Alongside the police, a private detective can also be brought into the search.
In any search for a person, the first days are the most valuable. Camera footage is kept only for a limited time, witnesses forget details, traces are lost. That is why it is important to gather everything you know right away: a recent photo, phone numbers, who the person was in contact with in the last few days, where they were going and what they had arranged.
Where He Had Been
Our detectives took up the search. Here is what emerged: the son, still very young, had given in to the temptations of Moscow life and partying and had simply spent all the money on entertainment. He was ashamed to go back home: besides his parents, a young wife and a child were waiting for him.
This could happen to anyone who finds himself in a big city with money in his pocket: there are plenty of temptations and no one to stop you. And shame is a poor adviser: a person hides precisely from those who love him most, and the longer he hides, the harder it is to come back.
The main thing in any search is to find the person alive. Everything else can be put right.
Just in Time
Most importantly, we found him in time, before anything irreparable happened. For his parents and his wife, what mattered most was that he was alive and unharmed. As for the money — money can always be earned again.
If a Loved One Stops Getting in Touch
Shame, fear, debts — the reasons a person stops answering their family vary widely, and silence does not always mean disaster. But there is no way to know in advance. If someone close to you has dropped out of sight — especially in an unfamiliar city and with money on them — don’t wait for them to turn up on their own. The sooner a search begins, the better the chance of being in time.