Missing Children in Italy from 2000 to 2020: A Review of the Phenomenon Reported by Newspapers

The disappearance of children has become a public social issue that has captured the attention of many in the last two decades, especially because there is not a worldwide consensus on the definition of “missing child”. This research analyzed events of missing children from 2000 to 2020 in Italy; data were collected from the main national sources of information: the websites of two Italian press agencies (ANSA and Adnkronos) and the four main Italian newspapers (Il Messaggero, La Repubblica, Il Corriere Della Sera, La Stampa) with a double-blind procedure. Our data show that male minors disappear to a greater extent than female minors and the disappearance of Italian minors is more represented than that of foreign minors. The majority of minors are found and when they are found they are still alive often within the first week after the disappearance. Our data shows that children disappear between the ages of 0–5 more than the cases involving adolescents. Also, of 182 missing and found children, information regarding the presence of abuse was reported in only 18 cases. The data of the present study were discussed in comparison with those of the Italian Government’s Extraordinary Commissioner for Missing Persons highlighting differences between the official data on missing children and those reported by newspapers; this study is intended to highlight a growing focus on the phenomenon, not only from a media perspective but also from an institutional one.