This report presents 2020 data on missing American Indian and Alaska Native AI/AN persons in the FBI’s National Crime Information Center (NCIC) Missing Person File and describes the types and sources of data available on missing American Indian and Alaska Native persons.
In 2020, there were a total of 1,496 AI/AN missing persons recorded in the NCIC. Of these, 578 were females, and 918 were males. Data are also report by age, endangered, disability, and the number of missing person cases known to be involuntary or endangered. Data entries involve incidents of a person who is missing. If a person goes missing more than once in a year, she/he could be entered into NCIC multiple times. Data on adults may not capture all reports of missing adults. Although law enforcement agencies are required to submit to the NCIC Missing Persons File incidents of missing persons under age 21, there is not a similar requirement for missing adults. Records are created from NCIC entries, one record per individual. A record is closed when an individual is found or returns home or law enforcement determines the record was invalid. The end-of-year active record count is the total number of AI/AN missing persons in the NCIC Missing Person File at the end of a year, regardless of when the information was entered. Categories describe a person’s characteristics or the circumstances of her/his disappearance. 3 charts