By DAICHI ITAKURA/ Staff Writer
June 6, 2025 at 18:26 JST
Some 18,121 people with dementia were reported missing in 2024, down 918 from the previous year, and 491 have been found dead, the National Police Agency said June 5.
Those still missing totaled 273.
By age group, 11,152 were in their 80s or older, accounting for more than 60 percent of the missing, followed by 6,054 in their 70s, 777 in their 60s, 129 in their 50s, and nine in their 40s.
Including those with dementia who disappeared before 2024, 16,942 missing people were confirmed alive last year.
Of them, 98.2 percent were found within three days after police received the missing persons report.
Two people were confirmed alive more than a year after being reported missing.
The NPA for the first time conducted a survey of where the bodies of the missing people were found.
According to the results, nearly 80 percent of the bodies were discovered within a 5-kilometer radius of their last known whereabouts, including 235 people within 1 km and 147 people between 1 km and 5 km.
The bodies of 15 people were found more than 50 km from the spot of their disappearance.
The most common places where the bodies were found were “rivers and riverbeds” (115 people), “irrigation canals and ditches” (79), and “mountains and forests” (71).
Since many of the deaths occurred in the vicinity of where the people went missing, the NPA said it is imperative to conduct immediate searches.
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