[1] Following the high-profile disappearance of estate agent, Suzy Lamplugh, from Fulham in July 1986,[2] two sisters, Janet Newman and Mary Asprey, co-founded the National Missing Persons Helpline.

[4] From a bedroom at the sisters' home in East Sheen, south west London, a start-up service was formed in early 1990.

[citation needed] In 1992, having re-mortgaged their houses to cover the cost, Mary and Janet applied to register National Missing Persons Helpline (NMPH) as a charity.

[citation needed] ITN's Sir Trevor McDonald became a Patron in 1993, after witnessing the way families struggled when their loved ones went missing.

[6] In February 1994, the resources of NMPH were stretched to the limit following the arrest of Fred West and the discoveries at 25 Cromwell Street, Gloucester.

Calls to the helpline from relatives of missing people trebled and extra volunteers had to be brought in to answer the phones.

[9][10] Distressed families already in touch with the helpline called again, in case their missing relative might figure in the investigation.

[citation needed] Gloucestershire Police called too, seeking help on identifying the bodies found at Cromwell Street and elsewhere.

The goal was to produce a database on runaways from Foster care, and to detect and possibly patterns that may explain why children are running away.

[12] Further accolades followed in 2003 when Mary and Janet were invited by The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh to a reception at Buckingham Palace to mark the contribution of Pioneers to the life of the Nation.

[citation needed] Lost from View was published in March 2003, a research paper that was funded by the Nuffield Foundation.

At the time it was the extensive study of missing persons in the UK and drew on data from nearly 2,000 adults and children who had contacted NMPH.

[17] The charity also claimed that their regular donors had begun supporting 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami relief work, causing a drop in the hotline donations.

[26] In November 2007 Missing People won two awards for its website[27] – which received more than 40 million hits in its first year.

In December the BBC launched Reunited – a season of programmes about family members seeking to contact missing relatives and the complex reasons people run away.

The charity tweets a different missing child appeal every 30 minutes for 24 hours and are supported in this by a range of celebrities and organisations.

The popular event, includes a 10K, a 3K and a kids run as well as entertainment and family activities, is held on or around 25 May to mark International Missing Children's Day.