The Mirror’s coverage of 17-year-old Deante James’s disappearance in March contributed to his safe return home
When the Mirror launched its ‘Missed’ campaign in April, highlighting the forgotten, unsolved or underreported cases of missing people across the UK, one of the stated aims was to bring at least one person home or to safety in 2025.
The Mirror’s coverage included an exclusive video of Deante’s mum, with the support of Mirror editor-in-chief Caroline Waterston and the Missing People charity, meeting Jess Phillips MP at the Home Office.
Recently, they received the news that Deante has been found and he is safe. On Thursday’s Mirror front page, and online, readers could see an emotional article in which Deante’s mum Vandana thanks the Mirror for highlighting his story.
In the article, Vandana said: “I’m so happy and relieved, thank God we’ve found him. When I got the call from the police to say he’d been found I was over the moon — I couldn’t stop crying.
“Thanks so much for everything the Mirror has done — it pushed the police to realise who he was even though his name had been entered onto the system incorrectly. It’s great news and he’s now getting the help he needs.”
Mirror editor-in-chief Caroline Waterston said: “We are so thrilled to have been able to raise awareness of Deante’s story and ultimately help reunite him with his mum having been missing for weeks. By shining a spotlight on cases that have been ‘missed’ or underreported in the past few months, we hoped that through this work, we could bring someone home this year to their loved ones and we have done just that. I am proud of my editorial team who told Deante’s story and they are ecstatic that he is coming home.
“Deante’s story shows how important it is to continue our momentum and so we are calling on our readers to sign our petition calling for a proper government strategy so that missing people and their loved ones can get the help they deserve. The Mirror will continue to bring awareness to EVERY publicly listed missing person in the UK. continue to share these human stories and work to bring even more people home.”
With more than 170,000 people going missing each year in the UK, the Mirror has been using its platform since the launch of the campaign in April to shine a light on public-facing missing persons in the UK via a live interactive map, in collaboration with the Missing People Charity.
The Mirror also launched a petition, which calls for the publication of a new missing children and adults strategy to ensure police, health and social care play their part, as well as investment in prevention for those at most risk of going missing and improvement in support to every missing child and adult on their return. So far, the petition has got nearly 14,000 signatures.
