Bukit Aman’s Sexual, Women and Children Investigation Divison recorded 567 cases of missing children from January to the end of May this year.

Bukit Aman CID (Investigations and Legal) Division deputy director Law Hong Soon said of the total, 374 children were found again.

"Of the 567 children, another 193 children are still missing and being investigated by police," Law told reporters after attending a promotion programme for 'Fun Ride Portal for Missing Children' at Tasik Perdana in Kuala Lumpur today.

Statistics show that Selangor had the highest number of missing children, with 285 cases, followed by Johor (264), Kedah (234) and Kuala Lumpur with 175 cases.

"A majority of cases were due to family problems, seeking freedom and running off with lovers or friends. Most of the children are between 12 and 18 years."

Law said to tackle the problem, police proposed to use Face Recognition System technology to detect missing children, but it was still uinder discussion.

The Missing Children Portal was launched on July 8 last year by deputy inspector-general of police Noor Rashid Ibrahim.

The portal provides a platform for the community to check and channel information of missing children (under 18 years) online.

- Bernama