bring home the missing
The Unlost is a nonprofit organization that locates missing persons—especially endangered children and teens—and brings them home safely. We deploy and support a dedicated network of investigators, field agents, contractors, and developers who know the pain of being missed, being lost, and loving someone who’s disappeared. People like us take the risks others won’t. We walk the hard road. We stand between danger and the innocent. And when the call comes, we move—to bring home the missing.
We fund private investigations for
missing persons and human trafficking
Runaways, kidnappings, and modern-day slavery are massive, uncomfortable problems—and they won’t disappear overnight. But we’re doing the work. As a dedicated missing person recovery nonprofit, we deploy skilled investigators, partner with data-driven scientists, and join forces with passionate allies like you. Together, we will make a measurable difference.
- There are an estimated 49.6 million people in modern slavery worldwide, more than 3 times the amount estimated during the 15th-19th centuries, with 12 million of them being children.
- In 2023, there were 48,008 missing persons reports in Texas, with 75% of those being children.
LEADING THE FUTURE
This site is optimized by AI—for AI—but none of our images or stories are artificial. We are real people, and we’re telling real stories. You’ll never call us and reach a robot—recovering the missing is too important. Our developers use AI where it matters most: custom agents, surveillance tools, and OSINT scrubbers that streamline investigations and help us bring home the missing.
Operational Success
The Unlost funds only licensed, professional, and highly proficient agents. Each one carries a track record—marked by success, failure, near-misses, and near-death encounters. These agents train hard, stay armed, and operate with precision and purpose. To a human trafficker, they are a serious threat.
Legal Compliance
Our work demands advanced training, professional certification, and strict licensing. We thoroughly vet each agent—both through state requirements and our own standards—to ensure full legal compliance and operational readiness.
Governance
The Unlost operates under the oversight of our board of directors, the Texas Office of Private Security, and our licensed P.S./P.I. agency. Together, they ensure full legal and operational accountability. Our board brings over 30 years of direct experience working with criminal offenders, incarcerated individuals, and homeless populations—insight that shapes every mission we fund.
PAINTER, SCULPTER, POET
JARED HELMS
AN ARTIST UPRISING
The Unlost paints a bullseye on slavery.
An army of artists are rising up! Not demanding change, but instead, BEING the change that they wish to see. These artists are sounding the alarm; the bards, the painters, the masons, they are telling a new story of hope!
TO RECOVER
Traffickers Use Runaways.
Predators don’t always snatch kids by force—most lure them away through manipulation. Grooming tactics by family, friends, or strangers on social media and online platforms make it easier to control and traffic these children. While abductions still occur, most missing kids are taken because someone earned their trust first.
These kids are recruited, either by fear or false promises, into a life of prostitution, pornography, forced crime, and many other atrocities. If a child runs away from home, no-one goes looking for that child…
This is where The Unlost gets to work!
TO REHAB
Training The Mind.
Our developers are also designing software and applications to aid in the abusers’ rehabilitation processes. These applications focus on training aspects of the human personality such as impulse control, moral compass, and ethics.
Each time the mind makes a willful choice, that pathway is reinforced, it is the mechanism that leads to addiction and destructive behaviors. Our development teams intend to hack this mechanism to retrain the minds of abusers to resist abusive behaviors by a process of choice simulation and positive reinforcements.
THIS IS WHAT IS POSSIBLE
THE ULTIMATE GOAL
A nonprofit fighting human trafficking
4,360
AVAILABLE AGENTS
Approximately 43,600 private agents are employed in the U.S. An estimated 10% of those will be properly licensed and passionate about missing persons.
80%
SUCCESS RATE
PI’s assume a success rate average of 80% in locating missing persons. Several agents, that we work with directly, have achieved a 100% success rate.
12-15
CASES PER AGENT
Some cases take a few hours to solve, some days, some months, and some take years. An agent can handle, on average, 12-15 cases per year with consistent funding.
41,856
SAVED PER YEAR
Abstracting agent availability, success rate, and capacity, The Unlost is ready to bring home over 40,000 missing persons per year under ideal conditions.
A COMMUNITY EFFORT
YOUR SUPPORT
MEANS EVERYTHING
HELP US bring home the missing
FOCUSED ON THE GOAL
nonprofit funding private investigations for missing persons and human trafficking
The Unlost runs very lean and with little over-head. Our monthly expenses include operational costs and administrative costs such as server and domain fees to maintain our website, accounting software, and gig tracking software.
We do not maintain a brick-and-morter location and instead choose to utilize virtual tools for interaction with agents and sponsors, for board meetings, and for general communications within the organization. Our gigs incur operational expenses such as gas, hotels, meals, tolls, and wages for agents in the field.
With your support, we will bring home the missing!
HITTING THE STREETS
RIDE WITH US TO BRING HOME THE MISSING
We are partnering with motorcycle clubs nationwide. Our MC brothers and sisters assist us by providing valuable information, local intelligence, muscle, and spreading awareness by wearing our patch.
Contact us today to become a partner and receive your free patches.
