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Search and Rescue in Australia (circa 1924), and 100 years on. Otto Yuncken – A murder, a hero, a dynasty.
Photo: The rescue party riding out across a High Country plain with George in bandages and broken bones on the middle horse ‘At daybreak...

Valentine Smith APM
4 min read


The Grief / Loss Impact Register (GLIR) – Where do you as a Government and your Police service sit?
Image of a pioneer’s tombstone in the Australian out-back, Valentine Smith © 2022 The Missed Foundation [i] calculates that for every...

Valentine Smith APM
3 min read


Artificial Intelligence (AI) – The Tipping Point…
AI – The Tipping Point to human redundancy in investigations and beyond

Valentine Smith APM
4 min read


Part Four: Missing Person Response – Gaps uncovered
The first police unit on scene took down basic initial details and commenced a land search of the navigable roads and tracks for some hours.

Valentine Smith APM
8 min read


Part Three: Missing Person Response - Gaps uncovered
PART THREE OF A FOUR PART SERIES Victimology and Witness handling INTRODUCTION: Criticisms, no more criticisms – with over fifty years in policing and investigations, the last ten years almost solely concentrating on missing persons, I have identified gaps in most cases. However, I am generally not overly critical, why? Because I understand reality and the limitations and pressures in which police work. I also understand that it is the front-line officer who is usually the t

Valentine Smith APM
6 min read


Part Two: Missing Person Response – Gaps uncovered
PART TWO OF A FOUR PART SERIES INVESTIGATIVE RESPONSE – THE GAPS IN THE FIRST 120 HOURS INTRODUCTION: “If it looks like a duck and...

Valentine Smith APM
6 min read


Gunfire – In ‘The High Country’
Murdered or Lost - clarifying the missing? (Three years down the track) There have always been ‘lone wolf’ stories of mostly men who...

Valentine Smith APM
6 min read


‘The Lost Boy’ – Tragedy in the Outback…
Everything in life is a ‘Maybe, even where we think we have a considerable degree of control of direction and choice. Many things we do...

Valentine Smith APM
3 min read
![MISSING[i]– 35 Years in the Australian bush.](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/93549e_e0185d4780c7424c89fdb4442341c1f2~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_222,h_250,fp_0.50_0.50,lg_1,q_35,blur_30,enc_avif,quality_auto/93549e_e0185d4780c7424c89fdb4442341c1f2~mv2.webp)
![MISSING[i]– 35 Years in the Australian bush.](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/93549e_e0185d4780c7424c89fdb4442341c1f2~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_172,h_194,fp_0.50_0.50,q_95,enc_avif,quality_auto/93549e_e0185d4780c7424c89fdb4442341c1f2~mv2.webp)
MISSING[i]– 35 Years in the Australian bush.
(Adapted front cover image of Tom Patterson’s 2022 book of the incredible story of Mark May) If there ever was one book that could be...

Valentine Smith APM
4 min read


We might as well be on the moon
CREDIT: MATT PALMER - https://mattpalmer.co Our Trip to Craigs Hut. By Pastor Christopher and Yolanda Eckels[i] Edited by Valentine...

Valentine Smith APM
11 min read


Paradoxical undressing
Paradoxical undressing is one of those strange things that an investigator can come across, more especially in the depths of winter.

Valentine Smith APM
4 min read


Finding inner peace in a world of Killers
Gary doesn't shy away from writing about perspectives and observations that may, in some circles, be considered quite unorthodox for a cop.

Samantha Kiss
2 min read


The Hope Narratives
‘The Hope Narratives’, are the collaborative work of MPAN, Dr. Sarah Wayland, missing person expert, WhiteGREY (Brand Specialists)

Valentine Smith APM
3 min read


Missing persons and investigative first response
A manual that we all need, it covers everything from first response to continuing intelligence capture/management.

Valentine Smith APM
1 min read


Birdwatching - for bodies (Observations of wildlife to locate human remains).
As we get older some of us get great pleasure in ‘observing', from watching people in the street, to dog’s territorialising the park

Valentine Smith APM
13 min read


Footprints in the Wilderness
Why do any of us feel rejuvenated when we go into a forest, sit on a quiet ocean beach, or even visit an urban park?

Valentine Smith APM
3 min read


“Cold Case Challenges” Missing in Action, Lost Boys in the Wilderness
The incident scene is born through a set of circumstances. It explodes into life and then immediately begins to die until there is virtuall

Valentine Smith APM
7 min read


Losing Track
How many times do you think, hear or say, “I’ve lost track of where I am” or maybe it is more a case of “I’ve lost track of my thoughts”...

Valentine Smith APM
9 min read
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