Uncertainty about the fate of a loved one is a harsh reality for countless families caught up in armed conflict or other situations of violence. Parents, siblings, spouses and children around the world are desperately searching for missing relatives, not knowing whether they are alive or dead. For a great many of them, it is impossible to move on with their own lives until they find out. The scars run deep, and families, communities and entire societies suffer from the various, long-lasting consequences of disappearance.