Nearly a third of missing child cases in East Ayrshire are from children’s homes, figures show.
Last year police investigated 214 incidents of vanishing youngsters, with 67 involving children’s units in the area.
All of the children were aged 15 and under at the time and they were all traced.
Police have searched for kids as young as four, but the vast majority of those logged as missing were aged between 12 and 15.
East Ayrshire police chief inspector Gillian Docherty said: “There are many reasons which can be the cause of a person to go missing.”
She added: “The reasons that looked-after children go missing can be down to a number of factors such as lifestyle and the likelihood that they have had to move away from friends in other areas.
“This is a wider societal issue, making prevention a hard task.”
Police have been posting images of missing people to social media to help trace them.
Some children go missing repeatedly.
Chief inspector Docherty continued: “Getting to the root of why people go missing is a huge part of our job but we cannot do it alone.
“We work with agencies such as local authorities and hospitals, as well as the families of those who go missing repeatedly.”
Police do not close the case until an official sees the child in person.
Chief inspector Docherty added: “A missing person is never traced officially until they have been seen in person by a relevant authority. Contact online or via phone is never enough.
“Every missing person is also spoken to on their return to ensure they are safe and well and to help prevent further incidents.”
The statistics were revealed following a freedom of information request by the Ayrshire local democracy service on behalf of the Kilmarnock Standard
East Ayrshire Council did not reply to a request for comment.
Across the whole of Ayrshire there were 857 missing children reports throughout 2018. Of that number 338 related to kids from children’s homes.
