May 26, 2022

08:05

Ívina Garcia – Cenarium Magazine

MANAUS – May 25 is the day of awareness and alert for missing children. This year, in Manaus, the number of missing children and adolescents had a sixfold increase compared to last year. According to data available on the site of the Amazonas Secretary of Public Safety (SSP-AM), in 2021, there were six missing girls, this year, the number grew to 23, aged between 12 and 17 years.

In the general quantitative, there were 55 missing people last year, while in the same period in 2022 the records jumped to 114. The low figure for 2021 is a reflection of the social isolation caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

In the period of January and February 2021, Amazonas was facing the oxygen crisis and a good part of the population did not leave home. If you compare the same period in previous years, the total was 114 missing people in 2020 and 130 in 2019.

Among the largest numbers of missing persons, men come out ahead. From January 2020 to February 2022, there were 777 missing men versus 283 women. In recording by age, the highest numbers in 2020 were 50 women between the ages of 18 and 24 and 134 men between the ages of 35 and 64. In 2021, there were 63 missing between 12 and 17 years old and 114 missing between 35 and 64 years old.

The Amazonas Civil Police (PC-AM), through the Specialized Police Precinct for Political and Social Order (Deops), is responsible for investigating the cases of missing persons in the capital and in the countryside. The chief delegate of Deops, Catarina Torres, refutes the belief that one must wait hours before filing the missing person’s report.

“There is no minimum time to register, as is commonly informed by people. Most of the time, family members or friends have already searched in places that the person usually goes to, such as, for example, friends’ or relatives’ homes or workplaces. Thus, if the irregularity in the routine is noticed, regardless of the time, they can go to the police station,” explained the delegate through the press office.

Agility

According to the delegate, the agility in the investigation depends on how fast the person goes to the police station and the amount of information that leads to the denunciation, mainly, in cases that involve particularities, in other words, with children or people with disabilities.

“When children and teenagers, up to 17 years old, the cases are under the jurisdiction of the Specialized Police Department for the Protection of Children and Teenagers (Depca),” Catarina explains.

Among the main reasons for the disappearance of children, the delegate says that although the family does not inform, children often run away from home, either because of LGBTphobia, for not wanting to live with their parents due to family differences or even involvement in crimes.

“Unfortunately, there have been many cases of missing persons due to criminal matters. Currently, we see an increase in the participation of many young people in criminal groups and involvement in trafficking, which causes a considerable number of missing persons,” she said.

Living firsthand

“In my opinion, when we get to this teenage or pre-adolescent phase, we should have more wisdom. Today, Kayla doesn’t have a cell phone, she studies with me, because I help her in school activities,” says Simara Marialva dos Santos, 31, mother of Kayla Micaele dos Santos, 12, who disappeared on January 2, 2022 and was found 10 days later.

At the time, Kayla was at home and left without telling where she was going, around 10 pm on January 2, 2022, it was 10 days of suffering for Simara, who blames her daughter’s disappearance on the influence of other young people on the Internet.

“My daughter was not going to have a cell phone, but because of the pandemic we had to buy one for online school classes, and that was the gateway to online gaming. She got friends she didn’t know who encouraged her to leave home, and they came for her without my consent,” she recalls.

She says that even with the support of the police, the unfolding of the case only had repercussions after she decided to hold a demonstration with other family members and neighbors. “At first I didn’t get an answer, but then something touched my heart to do the demonstration, and soon my daughter was in my arms. Today, we are fine, Kayla is studying normally, training soccer in the little school. I think that mothers should never give up on their children, in the nights of searching I saw many young girls ‘lost’ in life,” she says.