Overall, results reveal that the risk of a cancelled missing person report resulting in a fatal outcome is quite low, although the risk increases with the age of the person reported missing and the duration of the time they remain missing. The risk of a fatal outcome is also higher among males and lowest among juveniles. The findings suggest, however, that police should not solely consider the missing person’s age and sex when determining the appropriate police response to a missing person report. Police should rather focus on the particular circumstances of individual cases when determining the appropriate response. Data on the age, sex, duration missing, and outcome were gathered from a police database in the London metropolitan area for 32,000 cancelled missing person reports. The analysis involved comparing the number of persons found dead with the total number of cancelled missing person reports. Future research should consider other features of missing person cases that may predict outcomes. Tables, notes, references