IRMO, S.C. — Law enforcement agencies across the Midlands, including Columbia Police, the Lexington County Sheriff's Department and the Newberry County Sheriff's Office, are sifting through files of missing people.
The Lexington County Sheriff's Department reports more than 30 active cases, including missing persons and runaways.
Two of those missing from Lexington County are teens, disappearing in the last week. They are 14-year-old Madison Dotson and 15-year-old Malachi Ussery.
Columbia police say runaways are individuals who've voluntarily left, leaving a note, telling a relative or friend or having a history of leaving.
Police say the best thing to do to prevent this from happening is to keep a close eye on your kids over the break.
"You want to make sure that you know what your children are doing, where they're at, monitor their social media, phone calls, text messages and make sure that they're following your rules," Hendricks said.
Law enforcement officials say they try to find as much information as they can about missing individuals.
"Who were they talking to before they went missing? Where's the last place they were seen? Who do they like to go hang out with when they're not at home?" Hendricks said.
"(If) they left on foot, we try to get their direction of travel, maybe a time lapse. If we can, we'll do a foot check, grid search, we'll utilize canine if we need to, we have drone technology," said Christopher Roberts, with the Columbia Police Department.
Sumter Police say they are currently working four active missing person cases. Columbia Police report nine missing. The Newberry County Sheriff's Office has one.
"During the holidays, we actually see an increase in a lot of different things, not just missing persons," said Irmo Assistant Chief of Police John Hendricks. "There's generally an increase in property crimes, personal crimes as well. Some of the reasons for this are there's a lot more free time."
With the winter solstice unfolding, the longest and darkest day of the year, law enforcement encourages everyone to be on high alert.