Objectives:
The article addresses the issue of human disappearances in four Eastern European countries – Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, and Lithuania. Although there are significant discrepancies between the four concerning economic welfare and individuals’ mobility, their search procedures are quite similar.

Material and methods:
There have been several studies regarding human disappearances and police search investigations in those countries. However, there have been no comparative reviews of this kind so far.

Results:
The authors also highlighted the areas that require improvement, pointing to some common deficiencies such as a selective approach to human disappearances, the lack of specialized search units within the national police forces, and the somewhat limited use of the modern internet-based media. The issues relating to the identification of unknown human, which is a crucial part of the police search investigations, were addressed as well

Conclusions:
The authors also highlighted the areas that require improvement, pointing to some common deficiencies such as a selective approach to human disappearances, the lack of specialized search units within the national police forces, and the somewhat limited use of the modern internet-based media. The issues relating to the identification of unknown human, which is a crucial part of the police search investigations, were addressed as well