The present article analyses police records for missing persons that were registered and filed in police stations of Rio de Janeiro from 2005 to 2009. It argues that these documents are not only material traces of the facts therein registered, but also the driving forces for two main processes through which missing persons cases are managed. The first process is a statement of position towards the cases constructed by police officers out of the opposing pair "a family problem" and "a police problem". The second process, which makes sense within the framework of the first, is the delegation of responsibilities to the missing persons families, who ultimately manage and even solve the cases by means of commitments, obligations and affection.
Missing persons; Police records; Documents