MIA is used to describe members of the armed forces who do not return from a military operation but who are not known to have been killed or captured. MIA is an abbreviation for 'missing in action'.
[mainly US]
He was listed as MIA.
An MIA is someone who is missing in action.
...efforts to discover the fate of MIAs.
MIA in British English
abbreviation for
1. military, mainly US
missing in action: officially unaccounted for following combat
2.
(in Australia) Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area
MIA in American English1
(ˌɛmˌaɪˈeɪ)
nounWord forms: pluralMIA's
a person in the armed forces who is lost during combat and who cannot be accounted for as a known casualty