Antonia Fries, who went missing on February 11, 2013, is back home!

Facebook and its missing person reports – a topic in itself. These are shared again and again and in most cases only on Facebook and research is not that easy. As soon as a police station, for example, also issues a missing person report, it becomes a little easier. Therefore, the question from Facebook users is: “Is this fake”? It's not easy to answer yes or no. In this sense, ZDDK does not deal with missing person reports unless the creator of the post announces on his wall that the missing person has reappeared. In this case, a missing person report was published on a “PAGE” on Facebook on February 11, 2013 and even though the girl we were looking for was already back home, the missing person report was NOT removed. The result of this is that the missing person report is unfortunately still being shared.

This message is about:

(This was published on February 11, 2013)

On February 12, 2013, a day later, this message was published:

ZDDK MISSING PERSON INFO

Regarding MISSING PERSON REPORTS on Facebook, we ask you to note the following information, which of course also applies to similar inquiries regarding possible police WARNINGS.
ZDDK and its volunteers have just as much information available to them as any other Facebook user - namely through the willingness to do at least a small amount of their own research. ZDDK does not receive any special notification from various police departments or press releases for forwarding, processing or publication.

Of course, genuine missing person reports should be taken seriously!

But unfortunately there are also many fakes and wandering postings - now shared thousands of times - although there is no reason (anymore) for any search (e.g. because the person you were looking for showed up again the next day or because it was just a fake (i.e Invented to perhaps annoy or harm someone) and because it is unfortunately also the case that, for example, parents who are in a dispute over the custody of their child use FB to spread this publicly).

At the time of sharing such an ad, no consideration was given to the problems this could cause in the future if the photos/ads are not DELETED again if they are no longer current. Photos of young girls who were not at all objectionable are now circulating all over the internet and may end up on various platforms where the photos could be used improperly. Photos of people who are no longer missing end up repeatedly - sometimes for months - as postings on various PWs (including on ZDDK). When searching, you are always quick to share. But when it comes to the announcement of “re-deleting,” hardly anyone shares. But that would be important!

Both the police (if they were involved at all!) and those affected who are looking for their relatives are of course happy about any support and information that attentive FB users can give regarding a missing person. But the police are responsible for that and FB has its own platforms for searching for people and missing people, such as

>> Germany finds you

Link: https://www.facebook.com/deutschlandfindeuch

If a missing person report actually appears on FB (usually with a photo of the person you are looking for and a request to share it), we ask you NOT to post it on ZDDK but rather you should obtain the necessary information in advance from:

– the relative/searcher themselves or the person responsible for the posting
– the (local) responsible police (information service, police press reporting offices, etc.)
– the media (reports, advertisements, other publications, internet)

Thank you for your assistance!

Note: If we see on Facebook that the creator of a missing persons report has given the ALL WARNING and that the missing person has reappeared, we will report on it if necessary!