What to do if a Family Member is Lost in a Foreign Country
Millions of Americans, each year, receive the sad phone call stating that their family member or loved one has gone missing in a foreign country. When family members receive that phone call, most do not know what to do. In this article, you will see what is available to attempt to get your loved one home safely. First, as a family member, you should attempt to contact the U.S. Embassy in the country where your family member was traveling. Next, you will want to contact your congressman and explain the situation to them as well. If these first two options are not active enough choices you could hire an international under cover work to work for you. Finally, you could use some of the international special courier services to reach the hotel where your missing family member was staying. When someone goes missing in a foreign country it can be extremely challenging for family members to speak with the local authorities or the people at the hotel if the locals don’t speak English. These are just some of the most popular options family members have when one of their loved ones goes missing while traveling abroad. Here is the list, with greater specificity about each option:
1. Call the U.S. Embassy located in the country where your missing relative was staying. People who are at the Embassy will be able to talk to locals and local leaders to try to find your loved one. They will also be able to speak the language of the locals, so you do not have to attempt to talk to local authorities yourself to communicate. Also, people at the U.S. Embassy usually have a bigger authority and are able to better work with the local authorities.
2. Calling your congressman is a decent thing to do because they will have some power over authorities in another country since no country wants the reputation of having Americans go missing.
3. You could also have a secret agent who works on missing persons cases worldwide. These agents will be able to speak many different languages and they are good at getting important information from locals and local authorities.
4. It would also be a smart choice to try contacting the hotel where your loved one was staying to see if they know anything about your loved one’s travel arrangements or to see if they noticed anything strange at the hotel. If you do not speak the same language as the people at the hotels, you can use a courier service, where the individuals who work at the courier office will translate your message for you and deliver it directly where it needs to go. Using a courier also shows everyone that it is important for the people who work at the hotel to help you.
These tips will assist families around the country know what to do if their loved one goes missing while abroad. Hopefully, very few families will have to use these tips, but it is always good to be informed of your options just in case.