Two Sisters Built UK's Missing Persons Helpline From Bedroom

When Suzy Lamplugh disappeared in 1986, two ordinary housewives noticed something devastating: nobody was helping the families left behind.

Mary Asprey and Janet Newman watched their friend's loved ones wait by an empty chair with nowhere to turn. The sisters from East Sheen in southwest London realized that a disappearance wasn't just a police matter. It was a human crisis, and someone needed to respond.

So they set up the National Missing Persons Helpline from Janet's back bedroom. The 24/7 line immediately flooded with calls from desperate families and missing people themselves. As word spread, volunteers poured in and the operation moved from that tiny bedroom to a donated basement in Richmond.

The sisters begged, borrowed and pushed every door they could find. In 1993, Mary and Janet remortgaged their homes to register their helpline as an official charity. Princess Diana visited that same year, shining a spotlight on work that had been invisible for too long.

Their timing mattered. In the 1980s, most people didn't understand that someone going missing was a crisis requiring immediate support. Police often believed there wasn't much they could do. The sisters changed both those perceptions completely.

Why This Inspires

"They were tour de forces," said Sash Newman, Janet's daughter. "They were always tremendous fun to be with, but they never lost their eye on what they were actually trying to achieve."

Today the charity, renamed Missing People, employs 92 people and helped 10,000 individuals connected to missing persons cases last year. The helpline number appears in phone boxes across Britain, offering a lifeline when families need it most.

Ross Miller, the charity's fundraising director, says the sisters created something irreplaceable: a safe space for non-judgmental support during the toughest moments. That foundation of heart and care still guides every call the charity receives.

Janet died in 2016 and Mary in 2021, but their legacy lives on. The Independent recently raised £165,000 to launch SafeCall, a new Missing People service helping vulnerable children find safety. The work those two determined sisters started in a back bedroom continues to grow, reaching more families every year.

What began in grief became a beacon of hope for thousands.