The Search for Missing People and Lost Identities
A new book by Dave Grimstead, Co-Founder of Locate International
Someone Must Know
Every ninety seconds, someone is reported missing in the UK. Most return. Some do not.
For decades, Dave dedicated his career to investigating complex crimes, missing person cases and major investigations as a Detective Inspector. Following his retirement from policing, he founded Locate International with a simple belief: that nobody should remain missing, unidentified or forgotten simply because time has passed.
Since our launch in 2019, we have grown into the UK's only charity dedicated to finding the missing and naming the unidentified. Powered entirely by volunteers, our teams support families, assist policing and investigate some of the most challenging long-term missing and unidentified person cases in the UK and beyond.
In Someone Must Know, Dave shares the extraordinary stories behind that work. Drawing on real investigations, remarkable breakthroughs and the experiences of the volunteers who refuse to give up on those who have been lost to time, his book explores what it means to search for answers when all hope appears gone.
Part investigation, part human story and part reflection on the importance of remembering those who might otherwise be forgotten, Someone Must Know offers a unique insight into the world of missing and unidentified people.
The book will be released on 11th June 2026.
Early Praise for Someone Must Know
"The investigative work Dave Grimstead, his colleagues and the volunteers carry out is quite remarkable. It is a thoroughly fascinating and informative read."
Lynda La Plante CBE
“Someone Must Know tells some of the stories from what Grimstead, quoting the crime writer Michael Connelly, calls “the library of lost souls”.
There’s a deep beauty in Grimstead’s unsensationalised, compassionate narration, and true grace in Locate’s dilligent efforts to find answers.”
Sarah Ditum, The Times
"The heart and soul of what it means to be human. Heart-rending but utterly uplifting."
Professor Lady Sue Black
"Gripping and compassionate, it digs beneath the surface to expose the agony of those lost and those left behind."
Val McDermid
“A unique and important book of stories told with the pace of a detective novel, brimming with mystery, intrigue, heart and hope.”
Evie King
About the Book
The police are unable to investigate every missing person case indefinitely and, too often, those who remain missing slowly disappear from public consciousness.
Yet the missing always leave traces behind.
Through a series of fascinating cold cases spanning decades and international borders, Someone Must Know takes readers inside the investigations that seek to turn those fragments into answers.
From unidentified people found far from home to long-term missing individuals whose stories remained hidden for years, the book explores both the investigative process and the very human impact left behind when someone disappears.
Above all, it is a story about persistence, compassion and the belief that every person deserves their name, their identity and their story.
About Dave Grimstead
Dave is the Co-Founder of Locate International, a retired Detective Inspector and now, a published author.
Prior to founding Locate, he enjoyed a distinguished forty-year policing career investigating serious and organised crime, homicide, kidnap, extortion, trafficking and missing person cases. He also worked extensively with the National Crime Agency on international investigations.
In 2019, Dave founded Locate International to bring together volunteers from a wide range of backgrounds and disciplines, united by a shared goal: finding the missing and identifying the unidentified.
Today, that vision has grown into a unique volunteer-led charity supporting families and policing across England, Wales and beyond.
Someone Must Know is Dave's first book.