Georgetin Linga and Linda reportedly left their house which is located in the village of Nieuw Lombe but did not return home. Two of the girls are fifteen years of age while the third one is twelve years old. Regional Police Chief Naomi Farina explained that a parent of one of the girls contacted the po-lice last Tuesday to inform investigators that the girls were back home. She did not reveal the reason why the girls had run away. “Things went wrong. The investigation has been handed over to the Youth Affairs Division. We cannot divulge any information because these girls are under age,” said the regional police chief. The girls had left their house on June 27th before they went missing. A relative reported them missing ten days later. Chief Farina explained that some parents or relatives are either too ashamed or too afraid to file a missing person’s report. Some parents and relatives fear that society will blame them.

“The statistics only reflect the number of people who have the courage to file a missing person's report. Some families hope that the child will return and they avoid going to the police out of fear of being judged or criticized by society,” said Chief Farina. Chief Farina had previously sounded the alarm over the growing number of missing persons and also because youths in particular go missing. Many teenagers in the districts Wanica and Para recently went missing.

In the middle of May 33 people were reported missing in the Middle Region of Suriname. Meanwhile this number has risen. But girls are not the only ones who go missing because an 11-year-old boy recently ran away from home. The regional chief urges people to keep an eye on the nation’s youths. She also urged schools, neighborhood organizations and religious institu-tions to work together and to keep providing guidance to youths. Police officials made it clear that it is of the utmost importance to inform the police swiftly whenever somebody goes missing.