Expert: Jack Toomey - 11/15/2008

Question
Hello. I'm about to begin work on a screenplay. In the film, two young parents(about 21 or 22 years of age)end their relationship after the husband cheats on
his wife. The mother keeps possession of their daughter who is about 5 years of age. Weeks later, the daughter goes missing while with a babysitter. I was wondering what processes the police would take in this situation.
Could the police monitor the parents every minute of every day since they assume the father could be responsible out of anger at his wife, although they have no evidence linking the crime to him? What about the mother? If evidence is found in the father's house or car
that looks as though it could link him to the crime (knife, rope, etc.) ould the police then keep him under their supervision at all times? Must the parents not leave the area? Is it common for the police to get many tips claiming to have seen the daughter, but not one sighting is actually the real daughter? If so, how many? How much
evidence does it take for the police to hold the parents and not let them wander freely? Again, we are talking about a 5 year old that is missing, not a possible
teenage runaway. Would the police allow the parents to stay in contact with each other if they assume one or both of the parents might be linked to the crime? I couldn't find personal family stories online. Any info on missing children helps! Thanks Again, Ryan  

Answer
Ryan,

   The first thing that I need to tell you is that there is no "police procedure".  Every time I get a question from an author or someone like you they always assume that the police do the same things everytime in every place in the country.  Nothing could be further from the truth because every single call is different, every police department is different, and every officer has different instincts.  If it were a matter of putting a fender on a new Toyota then there might be a "procedure" but not in police work.

   Secondly are you sure that the parents are 21 and the child 5?  That would mean that the child was born when they were sixteen.

   Do not use the term "goes missing".  That is a media term and is never used in police work in fact it is mocked because people do not "go missing".  They might be missing but they don't "go".  In your play if the media is involved then it would be typical.

   In order to answer your question accurately or to give you a good idea what might happen I would need to know these things;

  1.  where is this?
  2.  is this a large city or small town?
  3.  how big is the police department?
  4.  is this being handled by a big city department or some three man department in a small town?
  5. did they call in the state bureau of investigation or are they handling it themselves?
  6. why would the police assume that the father is responsible?  Has there been any animosity or court hearings where custody has been debated?

  I am not sure about this rope, knife scenario.  Why would anyone need a rope or knife to abduct a five year old girl?  That is a bit of a stretch and not believable.

  I am assuming that this case is getting alot of media attention because you are talking about tips.  It is very common for the police to be deluged with false leads in a case like this.  There are a significant number of people who find a need to call the police when a child is missing or when there is a notorious crime when in fact they don't know squat about it.  It is a form of mental illness and a big pain for the police.

   There is no law that I know of, anywhere in this country, that would prohibit the parents from going about their day to day activites, leaving the state, going on vacation, or doing what ever they want.  I am not sure where you got the idea that the police have the power to restrict the movements of people. The same goes for restricting the communicaton between parents.  I am not sure how the police would do that.  Something tells me that you are getting some of these ideas from television or the movies but in this country the Constitution guarantees the right of freedom of movement and the right to pursuit of happiness which would cover movement and communication.  Now if they were arrested and in jail then it would be different.

  So let me know the answers to the questons that I asked you and I will be in a better position to help you.