PUBLISHED ONMay 05, 2026 1:20 PMBYSean LerThe police received about 1,300 reports of missing persons annually between 2021 and 2025, with the majority of vulnerable missing persons found within the day, said Minister for Home Affairs K Shanmugam.
Shanmugam, who is also Coordinating Minister for National Security, was responding to a parliamentary question by MP Fadli Fawzi (Aljunied GRC), who asked how many missing persons have been reported since 2021 and the number of such persons who were found within a month.
He also asked if the Government had assessed the feasibility of using the new SG Alert system to send location-based notification of missing persons to mobile phone users in the vicinity of where they were last seen.
In his written reply, Shanmugam said the police do not track the time taken to locate a missing person as this can vary significantly from case to case.
He added that the police will accord priority to vulnerable missing persons, including young children, elderly persons and persons with intellectual disabilities.
"The large majority of vulnerable missing persons are found within the day," the minister said.
Turning to the use of SG Alert, Shanmugam reiterated that the system is designed to expeditiously alert the public to time-sensitive and life-threatening emergencies.
"When the public receives a SG Alert, it is to trigger to them to immediately take protective and life-preserving actions," he said.
The minister cautioned that "frequent and overuse" of the system for a wide variety of scenarios may instead desensitise the public to its alerts and the sense of urgency it should be associated with.
He assured the MP that the police have well-established procedures to locate missing persons, including appealing for information from the public where appropriate.
"Such appeals are published through various channels, including social media," Shanmugam added.
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