gone missing
Cannot be found
Gone missing describes someone or something that has disappeared, especially when the circumstances are uncertain or concerning.
The phrase emphasizes that the absence was not planned or expected, distinguishing it from simply being away or lost.
It's particularly common in news reports about people who have vanished: Police are searching for a teenager who went gone missing last Tuesday.
Though sometimes criticized as redundant, gone missing is standard in both British and American English.
- kidnappedTaken captive illegally
- disappearedCeased to exist visibly
- last seenMost recent observation
- lostUnable to navigate
- abductedTaken by force
absent · spirited away · search · ghosted · without a trace · amber alert · have you seen · unrecovered · cold case · unaccounted · elusive · runaway · manhunt · unsolved · untraceable · clues · person of interest · investigation
- disappeareddisappeared, vanish, faded, dissolved, evaporated
gone missingfound
Discovered or established
located · accounted for · present · tracked down · discovered
gone missingresurfaced
Appeared again after absence
reappeared · turned up · come back · returned · come to light
miss, gone, going, missing, missed, goes, vanished, missing person, go missing