I recently started to watch some videos done by Adventures With Purpose. These are trained divers who do searches and recoveries of missing persons that have disappeared along with their vehicle. In several of the cases that I have seen them complete, they are solving cold cases or disappearances from years ago. Many of these cases include those who have driven their cars into the water as an act of suicide. Suicide disappearances are not at all uncommon and some are never recovered.

It is worth noting that this is how I remember things going down with Kody, and my memory of that time may be inaccurate or straight up wrong. But from what I remember, when Kody went missing, the police were unwilling to take things seriously. I think that the stigma of suicide contributes to this problem as it seems that police are less interested in looking for people suffering from depression. I suppose in some ways they feel their efforts are better focused on those who will be found alive. This is why in many cases search and rescue takes over with focus on recovery.

In Kody’s case, it seemed that things only were taken seriously after his note was found. Prior to that point, the police were unwilling to even gain access to his apartment. Even then, his brother-in-law was the one who found his car and search and rescue was the one to recover his body. We are the lucky ones. Kody was recovered a week after he died by suicide. His family and friends didn’t have to wait months or even years to find him. We were not left wondering what happened to him and if he were still out there somewhere.

Adventures with Purpose specifically has two episodes that I have seen so far that feature teenagers who have gone missing. In both cases, I believe the police have ruled the cases to be death by suicide. I was fascinated to see how even in these cases where a minor is missing, police seem unable to locate them quickly. One case specifically features a 17-year-old who went missing along with his mother’s car directly after a break up. The mother specifically pointed police to a waterway where even though the police found several cars they concluded his car wasn’t in there. Adventures with Purpose found the car in less than two hours of searching.

Suicide disappearances need to be taken just as seriously as other types of disappearances. When family members suspect suicide, the search is still important. Finding bodies and getting closure for these families is so important. We are the lucky ones, since Kody was found quickly. I never realized how true this was before. Does it make things better? Not exactly. But it is something to hold onto.