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Reported Missing follows the disappearance of 18-year-old Matthew

Reported Missing 2022 series 4 episode 1

Reported Missing returned for a brand new series on BBC One this week with the case of a missing teenager.

The BBC documentary show sees cameras follow police investigations into missing persons from the moment the phone rings.

In the first episode of series 4 (11 October), the search was on for two vulnerable autistic young men.

The first case was 18-year-old Matthew who was reported missing by his mum Becky when she discovered that he had failed to return home from college on his usual evening bus.

Reported Missing: Helicopter searching at night for missing college student Matthew
Reported Missing: Helicopter searching at night for missing college student Matthew

This would hardly be out of the ordinary for many young people, but Matthew is autistic, which meant that he had never missed the bus before.

While officers from South Yorkshire Police travelled to Matthew’s home, checks were made with his college in Barnsley. No one had seen him.

At Snig Hill police station in Sheffield, Inspector Danielle Spencer quickly raised the case to high risk after Becky revealed that Matthew suffers from stress-induced seizures.

Concern heightened when a friend of Matthew’s disclosed that he was involved in an altercation with another student at college that day.

Phone records showed Matthew’s mobile had been turned off at 2PM while still at college.

As night fell with still no sightings, the police helicopter joined the search but found no signs of Matthew.

The case concluded when Matthew walked into his home address, more than 13 hours after last being sighted.

He revealed how he had first gone to Huddersfield and then to Manchester before walking more than four hours back home.

The second case followed the disappearance of 29-year-old Luke who was reported missing from his care home.

Reported Missing: Lauren - sister of missing man Luke
Reported Missing: Lauren – sister of missing man Luke

A Facebook appeal led to a sighting of Luke getting onto a tram into the city centre which led to CCTV sightings before the trail went cold.

However by chance a police call handler on her way home from working on the case spotted Luke, seeing him returned safely.

But three weeks later, Luke went missing again. He was found safe once more, this time after being identified by a doorbell camera.

From the moment the phone rings, follow every step of the frantic, gut-wrenching search and wait with those left behind. In the search for the missing, every second counts.

Reported Missing airs on BBC One Tuesday nights at 9PM.

You can watch episodes online via the BBC iPlayer here.

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