There Was No “24-Hour Rule” — There Was Neglect

 There Was No “24-Hour Rule” — There Was Neglect

And People Are Still Missing

For years, many of us believed there was a rule:
that you had to wait 24 hours before reporting someone missing.

That belief didn’t come from nowhere.
It came from experience.

From families who called police and were told to wait.
From friends who were brushed off.
From communities who learned, painfully, that some lives were treated as disposable.

The Pickton Case: When Warnings Were Ignored

In Vancouver, during the 1990s and early 2000s, women from the Downtown Eastside began disappearing.

They were daughters. Sisters. Mothers. Friends.

Many were Indigenous. Many were poor. Many were sex workers. Many struggled with addiction.
And because of that, their disappearances were not taken seriously.

Families reported them missing.
Again and again.

Police responses often sounded like this:

• “She’s an adult.”
• “She probably left town.”
• “She’ll turn up.”
• “She’s transient.”

There was no legal waiting period then.
Police could have acted.

They didn’t.

Robert Pickton was finally arrested in 2002, after years of missed warnings, ignored tips, and failed investigations. By then, dozens of women were dead.

The myth of the “24-hour rule” was born not from law, but from systemic indifference.

A Pattern, Not an Exception

The Pickton case wasn’t an anomaly. It exposed something much deeper:

• Whose disappearances trigger urgency
• Whose lives are considered “high risk” — and therefore less protected
• Whose families are believed

Indigenous women and girls continue to be disproportionately represented among the missing and murdered. So are people living in poverty, unhoused people, and those struggling with mental health or addiction.

When someone lives at the margins, their absence is too often treated as expected rather than alarming.

What Changed — and What Hasn’t

Today, police agencies say clearly:

There is no waiting period to report someone missing.

And that’s important.

But policy on paper does not automatically erase:

• Bias
• Under-resourcing
• Fragmented systems
• Public desensitization

People are still missing.
Families are still searching.
Communities are still carrying grief without answers.

Why Early Action Matters

The first hours and days after someone goes missing are critical.

Waiting — officially or unofficially — can mean:

• Lost evidence
• Missed sightings
• Reduced chances of finding someone alive

When reports are dismissed or delayed, the damage is often irreversible.

Remembering the Missing Means Changing How We Respond

Honouring the women lost in the Pickton case — and the many still missing today — means more than memorials.

It means:

• Believing families
• Acting immediately
• Valuing every life equally
• Holding institutions accountable when they fail

There was never a rule that said “wait 24 hours.”

There was a culture that said: some people matter less.

That is the rule that must never be allowed to return.