- 16 hours ago
Reported Missing - Season 5 Episode 4 - Race Against Time
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00:14Every 90 seconds, someone in the UK is reported missing.
00:20Time is critical in these situations.
00:25Is this the first time he's absconded?
00:27She's 16 years of age.
00:29It's not good.
00:30Every case triggers an investigation into why they've disappeared.
00:35Are you allowing us in here to search for her?
00:38She definitely knows more than she's telling us.
00:40Has he come to some sort of harm that's preventing him making contact?
00:44While waiting families face their worst fears.
00:47The longer she is away, the more I believe she's not coming back.
00:53Officers from Police Scotland must draw on every power.
00:57So what are the results of your casualty report?
00:59Is that her?
01:01This gets weirder and weirder.
01:03Need a bit of truth from you before it goes any further.
01:06Racing to find the missing person.
01:08People may not realise the lengths that we will go to from a missing person.
01:12Find him.
01:12We won't stop until we find him.
01:14You pray that it's not always the happily ever after.
01:17Vehicle located.
01:19I just need to see that he's alive.
01:21And to bring them home.
01:22Just waiting on that next message to say, yeah, yeah, we've got him.
01:25Roger, we've got eyes on.
01:27Found and uninjured.
01:45Police Scotland, how can I help?
01:47It's one of the girls who's staying in my house.
01:50The girl has been missing.
01:51OK.
01:53She's a student of period ward.
01:55I hardly met her, just hardly spoke a little.
01:59So I don't know anything about her personal life.
02:02And what is her name, please?
02:04Her name is Santra.
02:11OK.
02:11And it's her parents concerned about her.
02:13So they're all from Kerala, from India.
02:16The parents are really worried that the child has not contacted them for past 10 days.
02:2222-year-old international student Santra has recently moved into new accommodation,
02:29but hasn't been seen by her landlady for over a week.
02:38I'm looking for a female, Santra Sanju.
02:41She's a master's student from Kerala, India.
02:45Description is five foot six, slim build, short black hair.
02:51Could you please check when she last attended university?
02:55Yeah, Roger.
03:00We've got a lot of students from around the world.
03:03It can be an issue when somebody moves here, and you don't necessarily have friends that
03:06are checking in on you every day, or family that live down the road.
03:10Yeah, a lot of people can go, possibly unnoticed.
03:15It's concerning when somebody's not been in contact with family for 10 days.
03:19That's a long time to have no contact.
03:21There's definitely immediate concerns there.
03:24Time is critical in this situation.
03:29Whilst officers are dispatched to Santra's university, checks are made with local hospitals.
03:36Hospitals in the area have not got anyone with her name.
03:39They've not got anyone with that description coming.
03:41Yeah, perfect.
03:42OK, bye.
03:44Another team heads to Santra's accommodation to search for anything which might explain her disappearance.
03:50You're looking for mobile phones and any item or intel that will assist with locating the
03:56hemisphere.
03:59Hello.
04:00Will we just go straight up?
04:01OK, brilliant.
04:02Thank you very much.
04:04We're looking for notes.
04:06We're looking for notations, diaries, address books, maps.
04:13They're notes.
04:15Might be notes from the university course she's doing.
04:17So she's studying a master's in psychology.
04:21Even if you don't know anything about Santra yet, can you please have a word with her mum?
04:27She don't know what the police has found.
04:30She's heard nothing from the police here?
04:31No.
04:32Give me her mum's details.
04:34We need to speak with the family and keep them updated and try and obtain the information
04:39that we require to help us with her investigations.
04:42We have to find out who she is and what kind of character she is.
04:46Hi, she's Junista.
04:48The landlady doesn't have much knowledge of Santra because she has just recently moved
04:53in.
04:54So the picture that we're getting is that she's quite an isolated individual.
04:57She doesn't seem to have a huge group of friends, but it is a long period of time that nobody
05:05has noticed that she's not been in touch.
05:08Knowing that a girl has been missing, it's just making me very scared.
05:12I know.
05:13Hopefully we'll find her.
05:15We know that she has just moved into that address.
05:18So it may have been the case that she hasn't unpacked or was she planning to leave?
05:25Yes.
05:25We have her passport.
05:27She has not travelled.
05:28Yeah.
05:29Roger that.
05:29Thanks.
05:33The officers have found under her mattress a note clear indications of not being happy.
05:41Is that her handwriting next to her notes?
05:44Yes.
05:44A medical bit of something with handwriting on it.
05:47Yeah.
05:48We'll definitely take that one.
05:53The note is brought back to the station to be assessed, along with items from Santra's
05:58room.
06:03You deserve better.
06:05I wish I could make it up to you somehow.
06:08I love you.
06:09I'm sorry.
06:11Goodbye.
06:14We can't say at the moment if it's a suicide note or not.
06:18Is this a note detailing her last thoughts because Santra wanted to go out and take her own
06:25life?
06:25Or is it just Santra has been writing down her feelings?
06:30We don't know when it was written.
06:32It's not dated.
06:33It's not addressed to anybody in particular.
06:38See if we can find out who the occupier of that room was before, it would be really unfortunate
06:44if it was two different people.
06:46Inspector Quentin Russell compares the note with samples of Santra's handwriting taken
06:51from her address.
06:52The note that I'm looking at here, there's a specific way that she does her hands.
06:58And then if I go back to the writing example, the hands are crosses.
07:05The handwriting example that we've got isn't big enough, I wouldn't say, for like an unexpert
07:12eye of ourselves to compare it.
07:14At the moment we can't even assess if it was written by Santra herself or somebody else.
07:20But it does build a picture of somebody who is in crisis.
07:25Has something happened to her?
07:30Santra's landlady has also given officers home CCTV.
07:37Revealing the last time Santra left the house.
07:42In the CCTV, she doesn't look overly distressed.
07:45She doesn't look necessarily anxious.
07:48You wonder, what is she thinking?
07:50Where is she going?
07:52What is she doing?
07:54So it's really important that we send officers out there as soon as we can to establish all
07:59the circumstances.
08:00The CCTV is the last known sighting of Santra.
08:04But that was ten days ago.
08:07And police need to find out where she went next.
08:16Look out for a female, Santra Saju, born 2002.
08:22She's left a note at her university accommodation.
08:28Harriet Watte University confirmed that her card has been used to get into the library at 1852.
08:37We need to confirm if it was Santra that has used the card or if it's been used by somebody
08:42else.
08:43She has been struggling to hand in her coursework.
08:45She has been engaging with mental health services at the university.
08:50She has been described as a bit of a reclusive character.
08:56Is this where the CCTV office is based?
08:58Yes, safeguarding office.
09:00Perfect.
09:01Hello.
09:02We're here carrying out some missing person enquiries.
09:05Can we have a look at your CCTV footage?
09:09Can we track her from when she's coming in?
09:13The team have discovered further CCTV from the day of Santra's disappearance.
09:20Is that her?
09:23That's her there, yeah.
09:24We can see Miss Per getting off the bus outside the university.
09:31We can see her on CCTV again, making her way through the reception area.
09:36The footage confirms that Santra arrived an hour and a half after leaving home.
09:43You can see she's wearing the beige earmuffs with the face mask.
09:59She's making her way through various corridors.
10:04She was there at the library, dropping what we think is maybe a book off.
10:12It's a massive relief when we have a confirmed sighting of her.
10:17It's not that she has written that note and gone to take her own life immediately.
10:24You can see she's left the uni exiting the campus underpass at 1924.
10:32She comes in the same way that she leaves but the way that the cameras are they don't
10:35really have anything outside the building.
10:38So do we have a confirmed mode of transport from when she's actually left Harriet Watt?
10:42I contacted LRT.
10:45They confirmed that the Miss Per does not hold a bus pass with LRT.
10:49She's maybe jumped in a taxi.
10:55Raph, it's Jill.
10:57Were there any taxi companies contacted around about half past seven in the evening?
11:04Teams have been trawling data from Edinburgh's transport networks.
11:08I think the busses would take too long.
11:11I don't know if they were to go sight off at all.
11:14It was taxi companies. It's all negative.
11:16It was negative.
11:19Is this somebody that is in mental health crisis?
11:23Or is it somebody just going about their day to day?
11:27If she has the intention of taking her own life, we need to find her.
11:31It could be the difference between life and death.
11:4580% of our work nowadays is dealing with people in vulnerability or in crisis.
11:49And it becomes really, really challenging.
11:53In Edinburgh, Sergeant David Tainch is one of the team at Howden Hall Station who deal with more missing person
12:00cases than anywhere else in the country.
12:03Edinburgh, I don't think I ever would want to live anywhere else.
12:07But as a city does have its own socioeconomic issues, it's not as easy to survive here as it may
12:15well be in other places.
12:17It is easy to slip through the cracks, to not be seen.
12:26Good afternoon, please. How can I help?
12:29I'm looking to raise a welfare check for one of the tenants whose property I manage.
12:37Two weeks ago today, since the way they abandoned their property.
12:42Sergeant Tainch has just been alerted to the disappearance of a 52-year-old woman named Laura by her housing
12:48officer.
12:50He has been unable to reach her for the past two weeks.
12:54And it's 100% sleeping outside, sleeping rough on the street.
12:59Just getting really quite concerned about her.
13:02I don't think she's in control of her decision-making.
13:07The only one is to get to the nervous person up.
13:10Especially since the temperature's been minus three, minus four for the last couple of nights.
13:14In the absence of anything else, we'll need to go and check.
13:21With the passage of time and no contact, it's quite worrying when you know that somebody does have a house
13:28but they're not actually sleeping in it.
13:30Why would she choose to do that?
13:33If I was them, where would I be? Where would I go?
13:36The key thing for us is to find stuff out quickly.
13:41There's reported concern for her. She appeared confused.
13:45What she'd been doing is she'd actually pulled her mattress out of the property and she was sleeping on her
13:49mattress.
13:50There is a clear level of concern there in the fact that no-one's seen her and obviously the passage
13:55of time.
13:56She's been given an address but clearly she doesn't really function well enough to stay in it.
14:03Flat, door-to-door, area of surgery, sleeping rough and then statement.
14:10Living on the streets every night is dangerous.
14:14It doesn't fit with societal norms.
14:17But I think it's more risky for a female than it is for a male.
14:21I wouldn't want to imagine living on the street during the winter.
14:24If you don't live in Scotland then you don't appreciate the type of cold it is.
14:30Temperature-wise it might say it's minus two, but it'll feel like minus nine.
14:35We can go and wrap up warm and put on extra layers.
14:37People who are rough sleeping, they've got newspaper they're sticking down inside their clothing.
14:42People dying of cold when they're living homeless is a significant risk.
14:46Anyone sleeping rough will probably wonder whether or not they're going to wake up the next day.
14:51Yeah, next right.
14:52Go to the dress, check out ourselves.
14:54Yep.
14:55Do some door-to-door, see if I'm on, see you now.
14:56So it's two weeks ago today, she was last seen.
14:59When I first joined, things didn't affect me anywhere near as much as what they do now.
15:04But I now personalise a lot of things a lot more than I ever used to.
15:07I start putting myself in the position of, if that was my family, how would I feel?
15:13Usually the people who we deal with, they are looking for help,
15:16but the ones we get more concerned with are the people that clearly don't engage.
15:25Police need to check Laura's flat for signs of life.
15:30PC Paul Cairns heads to the property.
15:35These ones on the right here.
15:37Perfect.
15:39Your first port of call is the home address.
15:42And that's the thing that always fills you with the most dread,
15:46because you don't know what you're going to find.
15:49There is a chance in every single call that we get,
15:52that our officers are going to find that person deceased.
15:54There is some kind of fold-up mattress or some kind of cushion.
15:58Why so?
15:59And there's a place.
16:02It is part of the job, but we are people, at the end of the day.
16:06The uniform doesn't give us a layer of protection
16:08against the things that would affect everyone else.
16:12There's a place.
16:20There might be a window open.
16:22Yeah.
16:22Hello, there's a place.
16:25The window's open.
16:26Cool.
16:29The window is, is opened.
16:32Have you got the key safe number?
16:34Yeah.
16:35Yeah.
16:35If we use the key safe, we can go in and we can check.
16:37Truth of life.
16:38And that's really what we're looking for.
16:41Yes.
16:42Yeah.
16:43Yeah.
16:45It's a place.
16:59Laura's flat is empty.
17:08So we're going to see if she's bought any food recently at all.
17:11So now she looks like she had cats, and the litter tray has not been emptied for a long time.
17:16Very mouldy by now.
17:17Aye.
17:18So we went into the flat.
17:22There's no food that's recent.
17:24There's a pile of letters.
17:25It looks like she's not being fed in the cats.
17:28And the litter tray is pretty full.
17:29See, when you say the cats haven't been fed, is there food there for them?
17:33No, there's no food out.
17:34There's no food out.
17:35So the cats are just using it as a house?
17:37Yeah, pretty much.
17:38Aye.
17:40She went from initially sleeping outside the flat window to then disappearing from there completely.
17:48Often some homeless people, when they get properties, go back to sleeping rough.
17:52It could simply be down to that mental anxiety about being confined between four walls and a roof.
17:57And they don't feel safe because they can't get an exit quickly.
18:01After abandoning the property, Laura appears to have vanished.
18:06PC Cairns needs to determine whether any of her neighbours have seen her.
18:10Hiya.
18:11Do you have any awareness of her at all?
18:14Little chubby woman.
18:15Mm-hm.
18:15The windows are always open.
18:16Ah.
18:17Feel me just carrying her quill.
18:19And then when you've seen her sleeping rough in the street, is she in the company of other
18:22persons?
18:22It's always in her own room.
18:24I don't know.
18:25Thanks, man.
18:27I've spoken to the restaurant.
18:29Anything that they do see her just sort of stick in rough outside shops.
18:34Have you tried our neighbours?
18:35We just need to go and ask some more questions.
18:43Hi there.
18:44Have you spoke to your neighbour before?
18:46To everybody here?
18:47Hi.
18:47But I can't picture her.
18:49My window's face to back.
18:51Yeah.
18:51That's why I don't see the front.
18:54Mm-hm.
18:54OK?
18:55That's good.
18:55Well, thanks for your help, by the way.
18:56Just as any information that could be useful.
18:58Absolutely.
18:59The neighbour who's not seen her for a number of weeks.
19:02I take it there was nothing else from any of the other flats in the block?
19:05No, I've just not seen her.
19:08Sergeant Tainch calls Laura's housing officer to see if he can shed any more light on her
19:13movements.
19:14Did you see you went back on the 11th?
19:16He reveals that he took photos of the flat when he first found it empty.
19:21Can you ping those pictures over?
19:23He's given me something to send to the officer so they can confirm that he's moved since
19:27the pictures were taken.
19:30We have a couple of images of the flat.
19:32Just to compare it against it, just to see what's changed.
19:36If that has been changed, it would prove that she's been backing forward to the property.
19:42We're going to take a picture of the ashtray.
19:46Everything's very similar in the same place.
19:49Hey, Sergeant Paul, I've checked the comparison pictures.
19:51There's nothing that's changed at all.
19:53A lot of stuff doesn't look disturbed.
19:56The unchanged photos confirm the housing officer's fear that Laura has not returned to the flat
20:02since he first became concerned.
20:05Right.
20:06I don't know how dangerous Edinburgh streets can be,
20:09and it obviously heightens our concern that something's perhaps happened to her.
20:14Where is she?
20:17I've asked for a spiral search from the address outwards.
20:20Yeah.
20:20Hopefully, with the description you've got and the fact that she frequents the same sort of places all the time.
20:25Right.
20:31She's got this off in the scene walking about with a white blanket.
20:35How are we going to track this lady down, and if we do, what are we going to find?
20:40She's not got the correct clothing, and if she's sleeping outside, that may elevate the risk of her.
20:48I've just not seen her.
20:50We're really concerned as to what might happen to her if we don't find her in time.
21:01Across Edinburgh, police and CCTV operators are continuing their high-risk missing persons investigation for 22-year-old international student
21:11Santra.
21:15It's been like 10 days since anybody has been in touch with her, so phone work is massively important.
21:22When we examine people's mobile phones, we can look to track their movements, pinpoint locations, which then assists us to
21:32identify areas that we can search.
21:37Obviously, it's very intrusive to that person's life. We have to think about the vulnerabilities, the presence of a possible
21:45suicide note. Is she at a risk to herself?
21:48So, at 2010, it's pinged on the B705 West Lothian. The ping after that is 2118, which is a mass
21:56at Howden West, Livingston.
21:58Her phone last pings at 02.42 hours in Livingston.
22:04Oh, look at that. Boom.
22:08The phone has last pinged in this area.
22:11After CCTV traced Santra leaving her house, she was then picked up again on camera at the university.
22:19Phone data shows that on the day she went missing, her phone pinged off a mast in Livingston, a town
22:2512 miles west of Edinburgh.
22:27So, if we're looking up here, her phone was last traced to.
22:31It gives us, obviously, quite a large area.
22:34Lots of woodland. We've got the River Ammond, which flows through as well.
22:41Massive, isn't it, when you see it?
22:44Knowing that Santra's phone is in Livingston is really positive for us.
22:49We really have to try and find her as fast as we can.
22:53So, looking at that map, what I need you to do, Jill, is get the cops that you've got at
22:59the moment from your team.
23:01So, everything within that circle to Ammondville Drive.
23:04And if we can take a note of every door that we've chapped.
23:07By the looks of the map, there's not that many doors.
23:13Go ahead.
23:14We're going to head out to Livingston.
23:21Last scene, we're in a black jacket with a furhood, beige, earmuffs, black glasses and a black hat.
23:28The last time I pinged was...
23:31Livingston.
23:32She didn't attend her recent exams. Nobody's heard from her. Nobody.
23:38While searches get underway, a media appeal is launched, urging the public to come forward with any information.
23:47We're hoping for somebody to get in touch with us to say that they have seen Santra.
23:52We're hoping that Santra herself sees that social media posts and reaches out to say that she's safe and well.
24:01One of the hardest parts of dealing with a job is dealing with a family who don't necessarily know the
24:08true extent of how their loved one is feeling.
24:12Friends of Santra's family within the Indian community in Edinburgh are also helping to spread the news of her disappearance.
24:20Sandra's father, brother, he contacted me. He is crying. He told me, Sandra is missing and they don't have any
24:32idea.
24:33Her father and mother missing her. They are totally afraid.
24:39I can't imagine because only one girl is in their family. She is missing.
24:46We are informing our local community to all the WhatsApp groups in Scotland.
24:54And we are asking for the people's help.
24:59If you have any information, no matter how small, please contact the Edinburgh police.
25:13As a parent, I can only imagine what it's been like for the family.
25:18They're halfway across the world and it's very difficult.
25:21There is a lot of emotion involved.
25:24I can't let emotion take over because I'm no use to anybody if I'm upset and crying.
25:32As officers begin door to door inquiries looking for further CCTV, a call comes into the control room.
25:42Good afternoon, you're sent to police Scotland. How can I help?
25:45My friend is missing and I just found out.
25:49Hello. Sorry to bother you.
25:50You say she's a friend to you?
25:53Okay, well, we were, like, friends in uni.
25:56We were looking for a missing person.
25:58There was only, like, two other people in the class that she really spoke to,
26:02so I thought if they didn't give you any background then you might not have anything.
26:06Okay, and what is it you want the police to know?
26:09Like, barely spoke to anyone. She's, like, very, very quiet.
26:12And we just sat away from everyone else in classes.
26:16And we'd never, like, hung out with anyone.
26:20I've only known her for, like, the past year, but I don't think she would have planned to hurt herself
26:25or anything
26:25because I've got messages from October where she planned to do a few resets
26:31and that would be, like, months away from now.
26:36We're just really concerned for her safety and we're just trying to establish where she went.
26:42I really hope she's found it.
26:44Yeah. Thank you.
26:46The cameras.
26:47Don't work.
26:48They're just fake cameras.
26:49Work as a deterrent, so it's unfortunate.
26:53I take all your door-to-door was negative.
26:56It was negative.
26:58Perfect, thanks.
27:02We are asking, do you know anything about Sandra?
27:05They are telling that no idea because she's not mingling with us.
27:10I heard she don't want any friendship or anything.
27:15She's not mingling with the local community.
27:19Sandra is very quiet.
27:21That is the main reason we can't find out any information for Sandra's missing.
27:28Police get another call from Sandra's university friend, revealing crucial new information.
27:34Her previous landlord was ignoring her messages to give her back a deposit and it was over, like, one month's
27:41rent.
27:42And she said she left, like, an aggressive voicemail, basically.
27:45She's saying that she's had a falling out with her landlord?
27:48Yeah, she's not the one in Edinburgh.
27:50It was over, like, a thermostat, so that's the reason that she had to move.
27:54Oh, and she actually said that her voice message sounded like a death threat.
28:01Those are exact words to me.
28:04The news that Sandra was in conflict with the previous landlady in Livingston
28:09prompts the immediate dispatch of officers to the woman's address.
28:14It's really important for us to establish all the circumstances.
28:20Has Sandra visited there? Has there been an argument that day?
28:23Has something happened to Sandra while she's been within that address?
28:30The landlady said that they sort of fell out and she got this new place to stay.
28:35And the text that she sent to try and get her property back
28:39alarmed the landlady to the extent that when she came to get her property,
28:43she actually videoed her doing it.
28:46The landlady was just a bit worried about how she would present.
28:50Described her as a bit odd.
28:52Did we get hold of the video of this, where the landlord was filming her?
28:56Yeah, I can send it to you.
28:59So this is the video?
29:02That's the misplacement.
29:03Yeah.
29:04OK, don't say work.
29:06No, no problem.
29:07I just don't try, so I just want to continue for it.
29:10Thank you so much.
29:12I'm really sorry for delaying the whole thing.
29:16Well, you've got to bed now.
29:18Thank you for everything.
29:20OK, thank you.
29:21Thank you so much.
29:22The footage confirms that Sandra did visit her old address on the day she went missing.
29:28But her former landlady had nothing to do with where she went next.
29:33We've confirmed now that there's not been an argument.
29:38Sandra's gone to collect some belongings, she's picked up a bag.
29:41On that day she'd gone missing.
29:43We now have another confirmed sighting, which is really positive for us.
29:48Do we know what the bag of stuff was?
29:50We're going to struggle to find what's in that carrier bag because the landlord didn't want to check because she
29:56thought it was just personal items.
29:58It's very significant because it shows her carrying out quite a normal action.
30:03Why would you go and pick up property if you weren't then going to use it?
30:08Was it items that were particularly important to Sandra?
30:12Is this an action of somebody who is intending to take their own life?
30:17We really had to try and work out what state of mind she is in.
30:22Can we identify maybe any shops that she could have attended?
30:26We can start, like, the ASDA super centre, see if we can get her going across that car park.
30:31Perfect.
30:34Focus on the ASDA side, nearest to where she was last seen.
30:41In a bid to track Sandra's movements after she collected her bag,
30:46officers start trying to identify CCTV cameras close to the landlady's house.
30:56This is a female swim, missing a lot of some concerns for.
31:00She's all in black, isn't she?
31:02So we'll be looking at this one then.
31:12So that's us at 9 o'clock down there now.
31:21There she is.
31:24There she is.
31:25There she is.
31:25So let's go back to the next view.
31:29There she is.
31:48The image of Sandra entering the store is sent straight to Sergeant Young.
31:56She's actually been traced at ASDA.
31:58When she comes into ASDA, she's not got the shopping bag with her.
32:02No, she...
32:04Yeah, so she's not got anything, has she?
32:08It's very strange that she's now not in possession of the bag.
32:12Has she deposited it somewhere?
32:14Has she thrown it away?
32:15Has she given it to somebody?
32:16You know, there's lots of questions.
32:19Security cameras inside the store show Sandra walking up and down the aisles for 35 minutes.
32:26PHONE RINGS
32:29When she's on her phone, is she, like, texting or, like, speaking to somebody?
32:36Yeah, it looks more like she's texting through the phone and stuff.
32:39PHONE RINGS
32:40Yeah, Roger, so not specifically phone with her, you're speaking to somebody?
32:44No, no.
32:46And now it looks like she's heading for the exit.
32:48So it's 21.4 on Leaves.
32:53PHONE RINGS
32:59But I assume she's sitting in a small shelter beside the boulder.
33:04PHONE RINGS
33:05Is this somebody that's trying to tidy up their life?
33:09Is she arranging to meet somebody?
33:11Is somebody going to come and pick her up from the car park?
33:15She was.
33:20PHONE RINGS
33:20Miss Perth seemed to walk through the car park at Asda.
33:25PHONE RINGS
33:27And then lost to sight.
33:30PHONE RINGS
33:30There's, like, a little underpass.
33:33The underpass leads, like, there's so many different, like, routes that it could go.
33:37PHONE RINGS
33:37If she's been seen going through the underpass, she'll probably need to concentrate on that area.
33:42It's more important, or, where she goes afterwards.
33:45PHONE RINGS
33:45An up-to-date CCTV is reassuring.
33:48It gives us an extended timeline.
33:51She's been carrying out activities that, on the face of it, seem like normal day-to-day activities.
33:57So we have no idea where she is, who she's with, or where she's gone.
34:04PHONE RINGS
34:06You always hope that the person's just gone off-grid for maybe a couple of weeks to decompress.
34:13Is Sandra just with a friend?
34:17There's always that hope.
34:19So all those are things that we need to start looking at right away.
34:26PHONE RINGS
34:26In central Edinburgh, concern is growing for 52-year-old Laura, who abandoned her flat two weeks ago, during one
34:35of the coldest periods of the year.
34:38PHONE RINGS
34:39Can I pass your details to reference a myth in person?
34:42PHONE RINGS
34:42It's five foot five.
34:43Her hair is golden.
34:45Show the length.
34:46And it's very unkempt.
34:48PHONE RINGS
34:49It should just be here.
34:51PHONE RINGS
34:51The whole absence of who she is and how she lives her life is a concern for us.
34:56PHONE RINGS
34:57We would love to speak to someone who physically knows her, but isn't anybody really interested enough to actually paint
35:04that picture about who she is?
35:06We're kind of limited on how to trace her, because there's not much history.
35:13PHONE RINGS
35:16With fears for Laura's safety on the streets, patrols are spreading out across the city.
35:24I am getting quite concerned about her wellbeing. Where is she?
35:28The fact that somebody can live in such a densely populated area and nobody see them, it's worrying.
35:35PHONE RINGS
35:36I'm surrounded by colleagues, by my family home, but I have dealt with people who live in isolation.
35:41Who have lost touch with family, drifted away from friends.
35:48And it is always sad.
35:51PHONE RINGS
35:52No trace.
35:53It's strange, though, when you get given a property and you still choose regular sleeping indoors.
36:00But she's 52 now, so she's been doing this for years.
36:03Yeah.
36:05She lives a chaotic lifestyle.
36:07She usually sleeps in doorways. It seems like your preference is to sleep rough.
36:12The public's approach is just to turn their head in the other direction.
36:16You'll see literally every other doorstep with a tent, a sleeping bag or something like that.
36:21People just step over them, walk past them.
36:24They don't think they can help them.
36:27And I certainly wouldn't want somebody that I cared about to be sleeping in that position when there's an alternative.
36:34At Howden Hall Police Station...
36:36So it's 1972.
36:38Yeah, that's right.
36:39Officers make enquiries to determine whether Laura has been in contact with any other support services.
36:45You may have spoken about your neighbour who's been reported missing.
36:49Do you know what day you last saw her?
36:53The 16th.
36:55Would you have any concerns for her, like, mental health or her ability to look after herself?
37:02Cheers, thank you. Bye-bye.
37:06I was last seen her in her pyjamas and a dressing gown and she was quite shaky and, in his
37:10words, was rocking about.
37:12Yeah.
37:12His influence is that she has mental health problems.
37:14Yeah.
37:15But not knowing her, he can't substantiate that. It's just his opinion.
37:21Year on year there's been an increase for mental health.
37:24A lot more people have got a diagnosis.
37:26What we need to look at is whether or not that's going to pose them a risk or pose a
37:31risk to someone else.
37:31So, we would like to identify what the concerns are from the get-go.
37:43Yeah, I think we'll just go to the hospital first.
37:45Establish the circumstances.
37:48A team is sent to gather more information on Laura's mental health care.
37:53We went to the hospital.
37:56Previous medical history.
37:57She was suffering paranoia and depression.
38:01When was the last time they've seen or spoke to her?
38:032018.
38:042018.
38:05Yeah.
38:06She doesn't engage with mental health services.
38:09It also means that she's unlikely to engage with herself.
38:13She's more likely to put herself in harm's way.
38:17This is an adult with capacity that can make these decisions.
38:21We need to increase our efforts to try and track her down as quickly as possible.
38:29With temperatures dropping and no sign of Laura for 15 days, searchers are stepped up across the city.
38:39There's so many places in which she could go anywhere.
38:43Or, in the lower detail later it may the same way.
38:46Something that, I'd be worried about, something bad happening to her that can't be undone.
38:56So there's a place here, just check there's 10 minutes for it, please.
39:01Hello, is someone in there?
39:04That's okay, no worries.
39:07Yeah, it's in there.
39:08Cheers.
39:13The choices she's making are not being driven by rational thought,
39:16and she's going to put herself in more danger.
39:20We're trying to find her as quickly as possible.
39:34In Livingston, the search is intensifying for 22-year-old international student Santra.
39:42CCTV picked her up walking into an underpass,
39:45but police still don't know where she was heading.
39:53She has a big jacket on, she has her hood up,
39:56so it's difficult for us to try and read her expressions.
40:00Mental health issues are still very secret.
40:03In the face of it, they look like they've got a normal, happy life,
40:08whereas underneath, they could be in real crisis.
40:11With no further CCTV coverage,
40:14a specialist ground search team has been brought in to look for clues
40:18about where Santra may have gone after leaving the underpass.
40:22We're going to go up and down rather than side to side.
40:25There's a denser area down at the bottom.
40:27We've concentrated on that just now.
40:29We're looking for many items that Santra may have had in our possession,
40:33whether that be a mobile phone, bank, cards,
40:35anything like that that can give us a direction of travel.
40:39We'll go across to Davies Department for the search of this place.
40:44We've won plus 12 out today.
40:47They should hopefully complete area A1,
40:49given that's the place last seen as well.
40:52Just remember what we're looking for,
40:53the biggest item that we're looking for is clothing.
40:55We're looking for a mobile phone as well.
40:59It's going to be quite tough, as you can see here.
41:03If you are going down there, obviously a huge drop,
41:05so just stay as far away from it as you can.
41:08Just have a wee look to your side
41:09and hold the line if people are falling behind.
41:12If we find the mobile phone or the bag,
41:15there may be friends' numbers in the mobile phone
41:18that we could get or contact details.
41:24Could be from the jacket.
41:27It was extremely cold on the night and she went missing.
41:30It may be that she's went into that wooded area
41:32to try and escape from the cold.
41:34It may be nothing.
41:35However, in this case, Santra is wearing a puffer jacket.
41:39I'll take a picture of it.
41:41So it could potentially be from that jacket.
41:46It's just kind of caught on the tree.
41:48It's just with the puffer jacket being kind of padded.
41:51Yeah.
41:52I thought it was worth bringing to your attention.
41:54Aye. Aye. Fingers crossed.
41:57As searches continue,
41:59the media repeal has triggered a number of potential sightings.
42:20We have to take every sighting seriously and we have to carry out full and thorough investigation.
42:26If we get positive sightings,
42:28if we get positive sightings, the more reassurance we can get as to whether she's safe and well.
42:33We have to be optimistic.
42:36We have to be optimistic.
42:36Anything is possible.
42:37Multiple sightings have come in from the Livingston area.
42:41I would say about 80% of all that everybody's had.
42:44She had on that long puffer jacket and she had the face mask on.
42:48And that's why I recognise her, because I thought, who in the Livingston where there's a face mask?
43:04The public are very good at phoning in, especially when it comes to missing people,
43:10because I think they can obviously put themselves in the position as,
43:13if this was a loved one of mine, would I want people to help?
43:16So we generally get a lot of calls when it comes to missing persons.
43:20The caller thinks that she was wearing a shiny padded black jacket with a fur hood.
43:24She was accompanied by a male who appeared in control of her.
43:30The female didn't appear well in terms of her mental health.
43:38I'd like to view your CCTV, please.
43:40I remember the public has called in and suggested that they may have seen the person within the shop.
43:47Between 11.30 and 1.30, approximately.
43:54She said that the MISPA stared right, almost right through her.
44:06So one of the key parts to all of this is that she is known to pretty much always wear
44:11a face mask.
44:11Yeah.
44:12She should be a little bit easier to spot.
44:28She could go down a bit slow.
44:32That'll be her.
44:36Yeah, that's...
44:37There we go now.
44:38We'll see if we can follow around the shop a little bit.
44:42This is with a male.
44:44What do you think?
44:47I've got an eye.
44:48You think it is?
44:50It's difficult for me to be 100% sure.
44:54I'm looking at the eyes.
44:56It could be her.
45:04She's got a thick coat on, which doesn't match the description of the coat that we've seen.
45:11I'm not convinced.
45:14But he's not here.
45:19Hi, this is Constable Shaw.
45:21Hi.
45:22I'm actually at the Scotland Court at the moment.
45:25We don't believe that to be the MISPA.
45:26Not her.
45:27Right.
45:28OK.
45:30OK.
45:32It wasn't her.
45:34Yes, it's disappointing and frustrating.
45:37When you think that you maybe have a lead, or something positive, and it turns out to be discounted.
45:48We still would urge the public to get in touch with us, because on that one chance that it is
45:55her, then that can obviously help her inquiry massively.
46:05Afternoon, please, Scotland.
46:06How can I help?
46:08Something I saw last night, a short Indian woman walked by me.
46:13She did have a black and white tote bag with her.
46:17She did have a kind of parker-style jacket with the fur and the reds, and a case covering.
46:24What time is this, sir?
46:2611 o'clock.
46:2711 o'clock, but it was just that there was underpacks.
46:30Another sighting of Santra in Livingston, this time close to where she was last seen on CCTV, prompts police to
46:38redouble their search of the nearby woods and riverside.
46:42They've dog handlers out today, searches closest to the place last seen, which is next to the river.
46:52Hello.
46:53I'm searching for a missing person, a 22-year-old female.
46:56She's been missing since the 6th of December.
46:58You might have seen it on social medias.
46:59I feel pleased to.
47:00Thank you very much.
47:00I can get back onto the riverbank here.
47:05It's the police.
47:05I'm searching for a missing person.
47:08Come on, Mac.
47:10Dogs are fantastic.
47:12They can cover a much larger area than we can a lot quicker.
47:17Good.
47:18They use their nose, whereas we have to use our eyes.
47:21If the dog's not reacting to a scent, then there's a good chance that that area's clear.
47:36It's not a particularly convincing indication, but there's a chance that if there is scent in the river that's pooling,
47:44catching up in the trees.
47:46Find it.
47:48Santra can't have vanished.
47:50We just have to expand that search.
47:54She may be hypothermic.
47:56Sometimes folk will burrow into bushes just to try and find that little bit of shelter.
48:03If Santra is not thinking clearly due to hypothermia and the terrain, she could have fallen down on an embankment.
48:21In Edinburgh, search teams have stepped up their efforts to locate 52-year-old Laura, who disappeared from her home
48:29over two weeks ago.
48:31There's, like, six or seven different ways you can go, so you could be wandering around and definitely looking for
48:36her.
48:42Hello, how do you know?
48:46Sarks office, David speaking, how do you know?
48:50We found her.
48:59Carrying nothing but a sleeping bag, Laura has finally been found in the city centre.
49:05Are your intentions of running our past empaths to see if they're concerned at all?
49:10Yeah, I can get a proper assessment.
49:14Sergeant Tainch wants to be sure that she's not in crisis.
49:19When you find somebody who really, really needs our help, otherwise something bad's going to happen, and we find them,
49:26there is an overall sense of relief that you've found them, and that they are safe and well.
49:30She just doesn't want help from anyone.
49:32The only thing she wants is rid of us.
49:35Laura is asked to speak to a mental health specialist to assess whether she needs further support.
49:42The consultant himself said that there was nothing in her demeanour and her responses that she needed some sort of
49:49enforced treatment or help.
49:53So if she just wants us to go away and there's no grounds for us to push for a mental
49:57health detention, then we'll just have to walk away at that.
50:03She flatly refused any kind of support or assistance and rationalised how she was living her life really well.
50:14She knew that we were looking for her, she knew there was help available, but it also meant there was
50:20nothing we could do.
50:21Her powers are limited, and in this case, she's safe and well.
50:27And we've now done as much as we can.
50:30I've never met a police officer that doesn't want to help everyone to meet, but we've got to come to
50:34the realisation every so often that there are people out there we can help.
50:38We're not mental health experts.
50:40We can refer to another agency that can offer the help that we can't.
50:46That's one of the most difficult parts of our job, is that helplessness.
50:50When you know that there's an alternative, the hope is that at some point she does come to the realisation
50:57that these choices I'm making are not the best, to help her see there's a different path in the future.
51:11As police continue to hunt for new leads in the search for missing international student, Santra, a call comes in
51:19from overseas.
51:22Good afternoon, police, Colton.
51:24I think I have information on a missing person, Santra Fadiou.
51:30Okay.
51:31I didn't know their real name because they didn't want me knowing a lot about them.
51:35How did you meet each other?
51:37They had posted on Reddit.
51:39It was them basically saying, hey, I'm done with life.
51:44And I responded, I said, hey, you don't need to do that.
51:48But we have been talking for the last couple of months just about every day.
51:53They're talking about having some suicidal ideation.
51:57They're talking about it raining.
51:58Their hands were cold.
52:00They weren't home.
52:02And then they stopped answering.
52:04Okay.
52:05I'm sorry if I'm not presenting this information in a very...
52:08No, you're doing great.
52:11...shaken.
52:11And then they stopped responding, and I haven't heard from them in the last two weeks, which is not like
52:16them.
52:17So I was worried sick.
52:19And then today I woke up, dismiss in person, because I hadn't thought to do that.
52:24And then it came up.
52:26Right, okay.
52:26So I saw the shows and was like, okay, that's done.
52:29Of course.
52:30No, absolutely.
52:31And you've absolutely done the right thing by contacting us.
52:37The revelation that Sandra called a friend and spoke to her about how she was feeling, before turning off her
52:43phone, has increased fears that she may have come to harm.
52:50Right.
52:51I think we're looking for her.
52:52Priority's her.
52:53Yeah.
52:55Public information confirmed that she may be looking to complete suicide.
52:59Given the time that's passed, we're extremely concerned for Sandra just now.
53:03If she is in that area, she's been exposed for over two weeks.
53:07We have to find her sooner rather than later.
53:13It's hard going.
53:14It's really soft underfoot.
53:16This is potentially a few days worth of work.
53:21The task for the River Almond is massive.
53:24It's a long river.
53:25It runs from Livingston out to the Forth.
53:28There's miles and miles of water away.
53:31I have every confidence in my team that if she's in that area, we will find her.
53:37Dive marine.
53:38Going to kayak the River Almond.
53:40The search team needs to slowly scour each section of the river for any clues, however small.
53:47Priority areas for them to search is where the kind of fluff was found.
53:56I'd rather make sure it's slow, methodical and done right.
54:04Searching the water is extremely difficult.
54:07You can't completely clear a river because you can't see the rocks, the hidden ways.
54:17Alistair, that's where the indication was.
54:21Make sure we do it a thorough clearing it out, OK?
54:25It does affect me in my home life at times.
54:28The same will go for my team.
54:30When we're looking for someone, it's always, where are they?
54:33Why can't we find them?
54:39That's probably going to be it.
54:41As the light fades and with no further sign of Santra,
54:45the team must call off their search until the morning.
54:48The longer a search goes on, the more doubt grows in the back of your mind.
54:52It's a splinter and it festers.
54:54We have to do the best for the family.
54:56That family are going through hell.
55:12Police, Scotland, how can I help?
55:14Hello, hi there.
55:15Hiya.
55:15Yeah, we're just out soon today.
55:18I think we found a body at the River Hammond.
55:28I think we've got a black top on, black jeans and black and white tuners.
55:38Yeah, I know it.
55:5021 days after she was recorded leaving her home,
55:55Santra has been found.
55:58Six miles from where she was last seen in Livingston.
56:06Unfortunately, Santra was found only 600 metres from where the dive marine team did pause their search.
56:16There's no suspicious circumstances.
56:20It's not positive.
56:22However, at least that family don't have any doubt as to what's happened.
56:26And they can not move on with their lives, but at least know what happened to Santra.
56:34Santra's family also devastated.
56:39Very, very sad.
56:43And we are praying for their family.
56:48All the people they are praying don't happen like this again.
56:57I mean, it's devastating.
57:00I'm a human being, at the end of the day, behind a uniform.
57:05She was at such a low point in their life, but didn't think that there was anyone to reach out
57:10to.
57:11Just, yeah, it's a really, really sad, sad situation.
57:46All the men, they were praying.
57:47So, love her.
57:49So, like, we appreciate it.
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