Cybersecurity researchers are advocating the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) powered tools to help trace missing persons more quickly and efficiently.

While conventional investigations largely rely on human intelligence, witness accounts, technical evidence, and surveillance camera footage, cyber forensics experts say AI can significantly improve both the speed and accuracy of investigations, especially when time is critical.

Thousands of people, including women and children, are reported missing across the country every year. According to the National Crime Records Bureau data, 4,24,235 people reported missing — including 2,64,934 women and 13 transgender persons — remain untraced. In Tamil Nadu alone, 5,524 missing persons are yet to be located.

G. Deepak Raj Rao, Professor, National Forensic Sciences University, Chennai, said AI systems could process information at a scale and speed impossible for humans to match. Police investigations were often constrained by limited manpower, making it impractical for investigators to simultaneously monitor video feeds from multiple surveillance cameras.AI systems, however, could analyse thousands of hours of CCTV footage in real time, detect movement patterns and generate alerts when a missing person’s identity is matched.

“The longer it takes to locate a missing person, the greater the challenges. Every minute counts when it comes to the person’s safety and movement. In the case of a missing child, the first 24 to 48 hours are critical. In remote or under-resourced areas where police personnel are overstretched, AI-assisted tools can produce results within minutes, whereas conventional methods may take several days,” he said.

Facial recognition

Modern facial recognition systems can identify individuals across CCTV networks installed at public places such as shopping malls, bus terminals, railway stations and airports. AI can also detect and flag even partial images of missing persons appearing in social media posts, news reports or other publicly available content for further probe.

Dr. Deepak said that in a majority of missing-person cases, particularly those involving young people, valuable digital footprints are often available. AI can scan social media platforms for last-known activity, location tags, and accounts linked to the missing individual. It can also analyse social media history to identify signs of emotional distress and map relationship networks to help investigators identify persons of interest.

Senthil Kumar Ilango, a researcher studying AI applications in cybersecurity and investigations, said police agencies worldwide face the challenge of covering vast areas with limited manpower. while searching for missing persons. AI tools could analyse terrain, weather conditions, the person’s last-known location and behavioural patterns to prioritise search areas and provide investigators with actionable leads. He said one of the major challenges was the absence of a common platform to integrate information from multiple systems.

“For instance, a person admitted to a hospital could be the individual police are searching for in a neighbouring district or State. But there is no mechanism to connect the dots. AI-powered integration platforms could automatically match unidentified individuals against missing-person records across jurisdictions,” Mr. Senthil Kumar said.

Officials of Southern Railway said facial recognition cameras and AI-assisted surveillance tools were expected to be deployed at railway stations to help identify missing persons as well as monitor individuals with criminal antecedents.

A few other cyber crime researchers were also of the view that AI-assisted tools would go a long way in expediting investigation in missing cases. Many developed countries were already deploying AI to trace persons reported missing and geographical boundaries were not a constraint.