A post published on social media by Stoke-On-Trent Police caused a stir of confusion earlier today (26th May) after an appeal was made to locate a missing ’16-year-old’ male.
Social media users quickly pointed out that the male in the picture appeared to be much older than 16.
Many forces around the country are required to publish public appeals for information about missing children as they are, understandably, considered high risk.
However, police officers and police staff are not necessarily required to verify the age of a missing person and instead have to go off the information given to them by the person reporting the missing person.
The post, which has since been deleted, read:
‘We are becoming increasingly concerned for missing 16-year-old Ali Bakri from Stoke-On-Trent.
‘He has connections in Cheshire and London’
However, many people were left confused since the male picture in the appeal looked considerably older than 16.
One social media user commented: ‘Are you sure he’s 16, I’m not ageist at all.’
Another added:
‘No way is he 16-years-old. Look at his receding hair line!’
One person inquired: ‘Was he born in a leap year?’.
Emergency Services News contacted Staffordshire Police’s press office for clarification but received no response.
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