Sally Magnusson presents a series that goes behind the scenes at police forces' Missing Persons Units across the UK and looks at baffling cases from the National Missing Persons Helpline.

A close knit community in southern Ireland has been devastated by the disappearance of Barry Coughlan. He grew up in the fishing village of Crosshaven with his parents and elder sister. In April 2004, 23-year-old Barry was offered his dream job as a fisherman on a trawler. He bought himself a new car to celebrate and was having the weekend off before going to sea. But just when he was due to start work, he went missing. The police searched the whole country and dredged the waters but there was no sign of Barry or his car.

In London, a 30-year-old Somalian man has been reported missing by his brother. Abdi's whole family are concerned about his state of mind and fear he could be sleeping rough. He has no form of identification and he could be walking for miles across London. Teams of police carry out huge searches of some of the cities biggest parks and vast open spaces. Show less