UK: Town councillor reported missing after working too hard

The family of Ukip's councillor Denis Crawford reported him missing after failing to see him due to his busy schedule. Crawford's daughter alerted the police of her father's absence not knowing that he was in fact busy attending meetings.

Following the dispatch of two police community support officers (PCSOs) who showed up at a Thetford Town Council meeting in Norfolk on the evening of 26 January, it was revealed that Crawford was indeed safe and busy attending a meeting. He was reported to have gone missing since 7am on 25 January.

Crawford who serves on the Norfolk County and Breckland District Council had returned to his house at 10pm on 25 January and left back for work on the morning of 26 January leaving little room for his family to track him down, leading to the suspicion that he had gone missing. "It was a huge surprise. The first thing I knew about any concerns was when two officers poked their heads around the door and asked for me," said Crawford.

"I was thinking 'what's wrong?' but the officers explained they were looking for me because I hadn't been seen at home for such a long time ... It's not an unusual schedule - I guess it just highlights how hard people in local government work. I went back into the meeting and asked the mayor if I could interrupt proceedings to explain what happened. Everybody took it in good humour but I'm sure I'll get a bit of stick from my fellow councillors."

Between 25 January and 26 January, Crawford had reportedly attended several meetings, including five hours spent at an adult social services meeting, a Breckland planning consultation, an action group meeting, a children's services committee meeting, a Ukip group meeting followed by a full town council meeting, reported The Telegraph.