Actually, I don’t see that at all. The approach used by SAR is proven to rely on fantastic data, and the searches themselves generate even more data. The method has been honed over the years, and is also used by the military. It has saved many lives, and kept SAR out of risky situations.
Also, the approach has netted very few failures when it comes to children in wild areas.
New catalogs of missing persons are added to the databases all the time, always refining the data.
You can try out the new app from the Department of Homeland Security to get an idea of the protocols.
Lost Person Behavior App | Homeland Security
Standard search parameter is 72 hours. Outside of that time frame, survival is minimal. The search continues under special circumstances. Keep in mind, SAR is volunteer; these folks have jobs and lives they have to go to.
A special circumstance example was the young woman on the spectrum who went missing on Vancouver Island last year. There was extra challenge in that her decisionmaking might have been very creative (she might have done something most adults wouldn’t choose to do in that situation). That search kept going for a while.
Usually, a child is “special circumstance”.
Families do get unhappy when searches end at 72 hours—and SAR doesn’t like it much, either—but searches aren’t risk-free, either. SAR is often out in dangerous situations. Managers have to weigh risk and reward. E.g. the Matrosova case sent SAR into extreme danger. The odds of getting blasted off a mountain were extremely high, as was the likelihood of perishing from cold.
Matrosova story:
Where You’ll Find Me
