Campus Safety thoroughly investigates all reports of missing persons.

Procedure for On-Campus Students:

When a student who resides in on-campus housing has been missing for 24 hours, students, employees, or other individuals receiving missing student information should immediately contact Campus Safety at (229) 931-2245.

All students who reside in on-campus student housing may identify a “confidential missing persons contact” to be notified by GSWs Office of Public Safety within 24 hours in the event a student is determined by a law enforcement investigation to be missing and have not returned to the campus. This person may or may not be the same as their emergency contact.

This contact information will be registered confidentially and will only be accessible to authorized campus officials and may not be disclosed except to law enforcement for the purpose of a missing person investigation.

If the student designated a contact person, the institution would notify the contact person within 24 hours that the student is missing. Regardless of whether a student has designated an emergency contact person to be notified, if a student is less than 18 years old and not an emancipated individual, Federal Law requires that the institution notify a custodial parent or guardian within 24 hours of the determination that the student is missing in addition to notifying any contact person designated by the student. Institutional officials including the Vice President for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management and the University President will also be notified.

The GSW Office of Public Safety will notify the Americus Police Department and/or the Sumter County Sheriff's Office within 24 hours of when a residential student is determined to be missing unless that agency made the determination.

Notification of this policy will be made directly to all residential students during annual housing meetings and is available online in the Annual Security and Fire Safety Report.