Missing person - please advice
I have no idea where to post this message so i'm posting it here.
My Norwegian dad has gone missing (8 months now). I am a Norwegian national although do not speak any Norwegian. I live abroad and have had not a very close relationship with him (his decision) but we have never argued etc. You might say we are on friendly terms. I used to call my dad 2-3/month and he was planning to come and see me and my sister + his grand children.
Then last autumm his phone was turned off and later his number was taken out of use. I have contacted his other relatives in norway but they have no idea where my dad could be.
My personal belief is that he is probably running away from his debtors or that he has found a new woman friend and does not want us to know about it because he uses my mom as a last "resource" when his money runs out.
BUT. His health is quite poor and some possible warning signs of a stroke have been around for quite a while. My dad loves talking long walks in the mountains and can even wander for days in the woods. My biggest concern is that he has died somewhere in the woods. I understand the possibility is very small but if it was your dad, wouldn't you like to be sure? I'd just like to know he is alive. My dad has never been out of contact for this long and i cannot understand why he would not like to have anything to do with us. Plus he has had a new grand child he was very eager to see.
I contacted by e-mail the police of the Norwegian city where my dad's official address is (he is registered with a relative). I had no reply for 3 days. I sent another message asking for a delivery confirmation. I received no answer. After 2 days I called. They could not tell if they had gotten the message or not. They said they'd call and they did. They had received my e-mails. Someone was investigating the matter (who - i was not told and not put through to him/her). They had talked to my relative and he did not know where my dad was (which confirmed what i already knew). They told me the police cannot do more for me and that i should contact the police of another Norwegian city because maybe my dad was living there (based on the assumption that he had sometimes talked about looking for a job in that particular city).
I asked would the police of that other city redirect me back to them because my dad's official address in their city and i have no proof whatsoever that my dad was living in that particular city. The police officer said nothing. Then he told me to check with Norwegian tax authority do they have any more information about where my dad was working (i found that a bit odd since the tax authority in this country will NOT give out detailed information about some ones income/employee to anyone except authorities). Then he told me again there is nothing else we can do.
I still asked him to check if my dad has an active secret telephone number (at least in my country you can have that) or if they could check if there was anything happening in his bank account. That way me and my sister could at least know he was alive.
At this point the police man I was talking to was starting to get slightly irritated. He was not unfriendly etc but I got the impression he wanted to get out of that conversation as fast as possible almost as if it had nothing to do with him.
He then checked telephone numbers but said there where too many Norwegians by that name to draw any conclusions. I asked was it possible to do a search by my dad’s date of birth and personal number. He told me it was impossible. I specifically asked don’t the Norwegian mobile operators have their clients dates of birth. He said no, operators do not have that information.
I asked is it really so that I cannot do more. He said that maybe a missing persons report should be filed (my e-mail was about how to do that asking for help). I asked what information they needed and the police man said it would be better if my relatives in Norway would do it, not me. (I understand it is more convenient for the police but I feel terrible already about calling my relatives and asking if they have heard from dad etc… I’m sure my relatives would be glad to help but he is after all MY dad). Then he told me once again that sorry there is nothing more we can do and that he’d call if anything came up.
I have to admit I was a bit disappointed and did expect at least an answer to my e-mail. At least something.
So if anyone of you can give me any advice please tell me what to do next. Is it really so that when you guys make a contract with a telephone operator, they do not ask for your personal information? Is it normal for the Norwegian police not to answer written requests for help (just to make a delivery confirmation if not a direct answer) and say they cannot search a person because there are too many people in Norway by that name?
I understand the police may have more important things to deal with and I even wrote in my e-mail that I am not expecting them to prioritize this case but certainly I did expect a different attitude.
I have no idea where to post this message so i'm posting it here.
My Norwegian dad has gone missing (8 months now). I am a Norwegian national although do not speak any Norwegian. I live abroad and have had not a very close relationship with him (his decision) but we have never argued etc. You might say we are on friendly terms. I used to call my dad 2-3/month and he was planning to come and see me and my sister + his grand children.
Then last autumm his phone was turned off and later his number was taken out of use. I have contacted his other relatives in norway but they have no idea where my dad could be.
My personal belief is that he is probably running away from his debtors or that he has found a new woman friend and does not want us to know about it because he uses my mom as a last "resource" when his money runs out.
BUT. His health is quite poor and some possible warning signs of a stroke have been around for quite a while. My dad loves talking long walks in the mountains and can even wander for days in the woods. My biggest concern is that he has died somewhere in the woods. I understand the possibility is very small but if it was your dad, wouldn't you like to be sure? I'd just like to know he is alive. My dad has never been out of contact for this long and i cannot understand why he would not like to have anything to do with us. Plus he has had a new grand child he was very eager to see.
I contacted by e-mail the police of the Norwegian city where my dad's official address is (he is registered with a relative). I had no reply for 3 days. I sent another message asking for a delivery confirmation. I received no answer. After 2 days I called. They could not tell if they had gotten the message or not. They said they'd call and they did. They had received my e-mails. Someone was investigating the matter (who - i was not told and not put through to him/her). They had talked to my relative and he did not know where my dad was (which confirmed what i already knew). They told me the police cannot do more for me and that i should contact the police of another Norwegian city because maybe my dad was living there (based on the assumption that he had sometimes talked about looking for a job in that particular city).
I asked would the police of that other city redirect me back to them because my dad's official address in their city and i have no proof whatsoever that my dad was living in that particular city. The police officer said nothing. Then he told me to check with Norwegian tax authority do they have any more information about where my dad was working (i found that a bit odd since the tax authority in this country will NOT give out detailed information about some ones income/employee to anyone except authorities). Then he told me again there is nothing else we can do.
I still asked him to check if my dad has an active secret telephone number (at least in my country you can have that) or if they could check if there was anything happening in his bank account. That way me and my sister could at least know he was alive.
At this point the police man I was talking to was starting to get slightly irritated. He was not unfriendly etc but I got the impression he wanted to get out of that conversation as fast as possible almost as if it had nothing to do with him.
He then checked telephone numbers but said there where too many Norwegians by that name to draw any conclusions. I asked was it possible to do a search by my dad’s date of birth and personal number. He told me it was impossible. I specifically asked don’t the Norwegian mobile operators have their clients dates of birth. He said no, operators do not have that information.
I asked is it really so that I cannot do more. He said that maybe a missing persons report should be filed (my e-mail was about how to do that asking for help). I asked what information they needed and the police man said it would be better if my relatives in Norway would do it, not me. (I understand it is more convenient for the police but I feel terrible already about calling my relatives and asking if they have heard from dad etc… I’m sure my relatives would be glad to help but he is after all MY dad). Then he told me once again that sorry there is nothing more we can do and that he’d call if anything came up.
I have to admit I was a bit disappointed and did expect at least an answer to my e-mail. At least something.
So if anyone of you can give me any advice please tell me what to do next. Is it really so that when you guys make a contract with a telephone operator, they do not ask for your personal information? Is it normal for the Norwegian police not to answer written requests for help (just to make a delivery confirmation if not a direct answer) and say they cannot search a person because there are too many people in Norway by that name?
I understand the police may have more important things to deal with and I even wrote in my e-mail that I am not expecting them to prioritize this case but certainly I did expect a different attitude.
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