The Australian Federal Police (AFP) has employed forensic imaging techniques to take the next step in its campaign to locate missing persons.

The AFP’s National Missing Persons Coordination Centre today launched its first poster featuring the age-enhanced images of six long-term missing Australians.

In April 2009, the AFP funded the United States National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to provide training in age-progression imaging techniques to police jurisdictions in Australia.

Those skills will be used to produce two age-enhanced posters per year, specifically aiming to increase the location of Australia’s long-term missing persons.

Assistant Commissioner Mandy Newton said this additional commitment would complement the biannual posters already produced by the National Missing Persons Coordination Centre, each profiling 16 missing persons.

There are approximately 1600 Australians who have been missing for more than a year.

“It was identified that there is a low success rate for locating long-term missing persons and one reason for this was the lack of age-progression capacity,” Assistant Commissioner Newton said.

“Through the training and ongoing support of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children the National Missing Persons Coordination Centre has worked with state and territory police and family members to produce this inaugural age-progressed poster”.

“I hope that through this initiative there will be a higher resolution and location rate for those persons profiled.”

The inaugural poster features the age-progressed images and profiles of six missing persons, from five Australian states and territories.

Those featured on the poster are: Amelia Hausia, ACT, missing since 1992; Karen Skinner, WA, missing since 1995; Ronya Livoni, NT, missing since 1980; Lydia Notz, QLD, missing since 1976; Ian Stanton, NSW, missing since 2003 and; Ursula Barwick, NSW, missing since 1987.

The poster and profiles can be viewed at the National Missing Persons Coordination Centre website, www.missingpersons.gov.au. The poster will also be distributed to state and territory police services, universities, hospitals, libraries, airports and other agencies.

“Organisations willing to help with the distribution of the posters can contact the National Missing Persons Coordination Centre through the website,” Assistant Commissioner Newton said.

“Public assistance is crucial to identification campaigns, I encourage people to take a look at these profiles and contact the National Missing Persons Coordination Centre or Crimestoppers with any information.”