Missing (2)

Below is a current analysis of my ideas involved in the new brief:

"How many sides to this story are there? Is it simply betweem the missing and the missed or do characters intervene between the two? And why is it only when it’s realised someone is gone are they desired. If they ever did come back, would that yearning for the other person dissipate gradual or stay consist when reunuited? I could also look in to how effort in the searches can deteriate from certain sides, covering efforts from friends and family, the council, the police and any police abroad. Do people just disappear for a reason? Is it an escape? And if so what degree of self indulgency and selfishness would it be classed as? Maybe it varies from one case or the other, when you investigate the private lives of those that go missing, do they have a homelife? I’ am trying to think in a backwards way, working backwards from the point that the search is ended. There aren’t a great deal of steps to trace, but this is a possible lead for how my project could evolve. The question is, will I focus on the missing persons side or the idea of drifting apart from the rest of society within a closed environment, no matter what type of doors are shut. So that’s my choice at the moment, what route do I go down? First of all I need to think about how open each side is research wise and how “available” the topic is, where can i get leads for research, what resources are available and how available are they?
Ok, so let’s start with the entire missing persons theme. The right place to start would be by researching past and most “standout” disappearences that resonate the most with the public, because of how they’ve been covered in the media this side of the millenium. Working backwards is Claudia Lawrence. It feels most relevant to work from here, due to the fact that the case is within Yorkshire, and Laurence was working as a chef at the University of York at the time of her disappearance. And than you start looking for reasons and answers, why? Was Claudia leading a double life? Were the rumours of multiple relationships with unknown men true, and if so would it be the reason for laurence to go missing in the first place? Or was it something else? There are endless amounts of leads you could ponder and consider, but the likelihood is that only a small amount of them speak any truth or sense. The Claudia Lawrence case will most likely remain a mystery until Claudia is actually found, unless any investigation provokes new promise in finding Lawrence. The comes the aftermath, the influx of these rumours start to become severely public and and sometimes seen through rose tinted glasses. No debate can bring her disappearence to justice, no matter what questions you ask yourself. It’s the “news” that encourages these mindsets, to start out your own investigations and boil up obscure thought processes that are probably totally unrealistic.
But then there are other examples of missing persons claims, take the Shannon Matthews case for example.After just under a month of police investigations, fundraising, spreading awareness and general searches, the massive police operation ended at Batley Carr, where Matthews was found alive and well in the house of Michael Donovan, the uncle of Shannon’s father Craig Meehan. At the time, this seemed like a repeat of the awful case of Madeliene McCann in 2007, but on a more localised scale. The entire story was propelled in to a scandal as both Matthew’s mother Karen and Craig Meehan were arrested on seperate charges. Both were eventually given a maximum of 8 years in prison for possession of child pornography, kidnapping and false imprisonment (regarding the actions of Craig Meehan) and for child neglect and perverting the course of justice (against Karen Matthews). The stories of Shannon Matthews’ kidnapy shock the nation, via the media who desperately seeked people who may of seen Matthews after the time she was reported missing. Over the course of her 24 day disappearence, the Matthews family recieved both criticism and sympathy from various nation-wide newspapers, comparing it closely to Madeliene McCann’s disappearence. It was also speculated at the time that this was in fact a stunt formed in the Matthew’s family in order to earn money from news coverage, but until Shannon was found under Michael Donovan’s bed, the family were publicly shamed for the atrocity"

Of course, this needs to be extended to include the case of Andrew Gosden, Matthew Wilcox, and talk further about foundations and charities that are acting and preventing missing persons cases such as Shelter, along with The Big Issue, the social business that allows the homeless to earn money, and to start rebuilding their lives. It's key that I also look in to the turmoil caused by these vanishings, their effect on friends and family. Finally I'll cover finding those that go missing, and where life goes from there. It's quite a gargantuan task but I'll try my best to undertake it in a dignifying and truthful way that discusses and informs the audience about loss, how it's dealt with and how to move on.