Experiments in New Zealand: 11-year-olds erroneously captured as adults!

Experiments in New Zealand: 11-year-olds erroneously captured as adults!

On March 9, 2025, a scandalous misjudgment occurred in Hamilton, New Zealand, when an 11-year-old, mentally impaired girl was accidentally thought to be a missing 20-year-old woman. This incident caused massive outrage in public, especially when it became known that the child was held in a psychiatric intensive care unit over twelve hours and received forced medication during this time, including an antipsychotic that is rarely administered in children. The police incorrectly identified the girl while she crossed a bridge. An attentive caregiver registered in the hospital that the girl looked "more like a child", but it was treated like an adult patient.

only after the officials recognized their mistakes, the parents who finally picked up their child were informed. The New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon described the incident as "incredibly disturbing" and announced an official investigation to clarify the systemic mistakes between the police and health facilities. Richard Sullivan, a high -ranking representative of the healthcare system, publicly apologized for the considerable trauma and the stress that this incident had caused the child and his family. [Krone] reports that this incident not only shaken society, but also illuminates the already existing critical points in dealing with vulnerable groups.

missing person in Germany

In Germany, the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) has been working on missing people since its foundation in 1951. The tasks of the BKA's “missing person” include the search for missing persons, the identification of unknown corpses and the support in finding helpless people. One person is considered missing if they are inexplicably absent from their whereabouts and is suspected of a danger to life or life. In the case of missing minors under the age of 18 in particular, there is basically a danger, which is why they are taken into state care until a return to the custody is possible. [BKA] emphasizes that the local police station is responsible for the immediate search for people.

On January 1, 2025, around 9,420 missing cases were registered in Germany. Around 200 to 300 new searches are recorded every day, around 50 % of which can be clarified within the first week. Over two thirds of the missing people are male, and about half are children and adolescents. Around 18,100 children were missing in 2024, with 96.7 % of these cases explained by the end of the year. An alarming trend is the increase in the missing unaccompanied minor refugees (Um), which increase to around 4,300 cases in 2024. [BKA] emphasizes that the most common cause of the disappearance of sizes is voluntary abandoning accommodation.

auxiliary measures and clarification rate

The BKA also coordinates searches when there are indications of a stay abroad and is also responsible for processing request from abroad. The "Vermi/Utot" file contains data on missing persons, unknown dead and helpless people. However, the police can only become active for a missing person report if the criteria are met. Otherwise, other institutions are often switched on. It is important to point out that the educational rate of missing young people is very high; 97.4 % of the missing young people from 2024 were informed.