WTH how long was he out if they got to the point of reporting him missing?
You don’t have to wait a certain amount of time to report someone missing. If your partner says “On my way home” then is 2 hours late and not responding to calls feel free to report them as missing. They could’ve easily been in a major accident.
Where did that idea even come from?
The longer you take to report someone missing, the harder it is to find them.