Ice-Cream Trip to 17-Year Disappearance: Facial Recognition & AI Reunite Pakistani Woman With Family After 17 Years

A heart-wrenching story from Pakistan, where a young woman who went missing 17 years the age after stepping out to buy an ice cream in Islamabad has finally found her way back home. 

The 27-year-old, Kiran, went out to buy ice cream in her Islamabad neighbourhood but got lost and forgot the way back home. 

She said, “I was lost and crying. I remember a kind woman took me to the Edhi Centre in Islamabad as I couldn’t remember anything.” A few days later, Bilquis Edhi, the wife of the late Abdul Sattar Edhi, founder of the Edhi Foundation, arrived and took Kiran to Karachi. 

Why Did Multiple Trips to Islamabad Fail to Trace Kiran’s Parents?

Kiran has been raised under the care of Bilquis Edhi at the Abdul Sattar Edhi shelter home in Karachi. Sabah Faisal Edhi, wide of the foundation’s current chairperson Faisal Edhi, shared that multiple trips were made to Islamabad in an effort to locate Kiran’s parents, but all attempts proved unsuccessful. 

How Did AI and Facial Recognition Help Trace Kiran’s Family?

The Foundation reached out to Nabeel Ahmed, a cybersecurity expert with Punjab’s Safe City Project, an initiative started by the provincial government in 2018. 

Taking a keen interest in the case, Nabeel discovered a police report about a missing girl in Islamabad and, using advanced AI technology, facial recognition, and tracking software, successfully located her family. 

How Did Abdul Majeed Finally Reunite With His Daughter After Years?

Soon after, Abdul Majeed, a tailor by profession, travelled to Karachi to bring his daughter home. He revealed that he and his family had spent years searching for Kiran without success. 

He said, “We even published her photo in some newspapers, but no one came forward (to find Kiran).” Majeed added that he had nearly lost hope of ever seeing his daughter again until officials from Punjab’s Safe City Project reached out, informing him that they had finally located her.