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(KIM ANDERSON / iNFOnews.ca)

Police in Kamloops are searching for more missing people this year than they have since 2019.

Kamloops RCMP took on 419 missing persons files in the first six months of 2022, and 220 of those came from April to the end of July, according to a report going to Kamloops city council next week.

People can be reported missing any number of times, making it difficult to determine just how many people are reported missing in a year.

Of those 220 reports, just five people accounted for 20% of the files — reported missing 44 times three months, according to Kamloops RCMP.

Most of the time, the public isn't notified of a missing person, but Kamloops RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Crystal Evelyn previously told iNFOnews.ca most of those people are found within days.

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"(Missing person reports) can be quite exhaustive, and much of (the reports) are related to mental health... and just the general trend in homelessness," Supt. Syd Lecky told city council in March. "And many of them aren't missing, it's just their loved ones can't find them."

At 419 files, those reports are up from the last two years. There were 352 missing person files in the first six months of 2021 and 332 in 2020. In 2019, those reports were much higher at 434 files in the first six months of the year.

B.C. RCMP removes the public record of missing person files once they are found, but ongoing investigations issued to the public remain on its website.

For Kamloops, just one remains on the B.C. RCMP website for this year. Police are still looking for a 44-year-old man who was last heard from on Jan. 3.

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Another high-profile missing person case remains open as searches continue for Shannon White. Her unusual disappearance last year has led police to believe she was the victim of foul play.

There have been no new updates from Kamloops RCMP in recent months regarding her disappearance.

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