|
A total of 766 youngsters between the ages of 12 and 18 went
missing in Portugal in the first four months of 2011, the Portuguese
Missing Children’s Association (APCD) said on the eve of International
Missing Children’s day.
 |
|
Rui Pedro Teixeira mother Filomina |
A large majority are found or come back of their own free will
within a few hours
The APCD also knows of at least 53 children under 12 years old who have
disappeared since the beginning of the year.
Most missing children in Portugal over 12 run away for short periods of
time, often repeatedly, from care centres or are taken away by one of
their parents during turbulent divorce proceedings.
Most of the missing children under 12 have either already been found,
ran away from institutions or were last seen with members of their
family.
Only two children on the APCD site are thought to have disappeared in
suspicious circumstances since 1999, the most famous of whom is
Madeleine McCann, who went missing in the Algarve in 2007. TPN/Lusa
Edition: 1115 |
