Whereabouts
Where Someone Has Gone, Where Something Has Gone
noun
If you go off in a random direction, people may lose track of your whereabouts. Make sure you call home and let everyone know your whereabouts once you get wherever it is you're going.
行方 means where someone or something has gone, especially when the whereabouts are unknown. You'll often hear it in the phrase 行方不明 (missing). It can also be used more abstractly to talk about how things will turn out in the future, like 計画の行方 (the fate of the plan), with an emphasis on the outcome being up in the air.
This word's reading, ゆくえ, uses irregular readings from both kanji, so here's a mnemonic to help it stick for you:
If someone doesn't know your whereabouts, they may go on a "you quest" (ゆくえ) — a quest to find YOU, in other words. Always make sure you keep your loved ones up to date on your whereabouts so they don't run off on any crazy "you quests."
行方不明
missing
行方調査
whereabouts investigation
行方次第
depending on how things go
男の行方
the whereabouts of the man
恋の行方
the course of a romance
裁判の行方
the outcome of a trial
勝負の行方
the outcome of a match
今後の行方
where things go from here
行方をくらます
to disappear, to obscure one's whereabouts
行方を追う
to pursue the whereabouts
行方をさがす
to search for the whereabouts of
行方を見守る
to keep watch over how things turn out
行方を左右する
to influence the outcome
あの人たちは、行方不明の人をさがしているんです。
Those people are searching for a missing person.
警察はヘリで犯人の行方を追っているらしい。
Apparently, the police are searching for the culprit's whereabouts by helicopter.
国民全員が、その事件の行方を見守っていました。
The entire nation was watching how the case would unfold.
お金の行方が分からないこと自体が、すでに問題なんですよ。しかもあなた個人のお金じゃなくて、血税ですよ？
The fact that no one knows where the money went is already a problem in and of itself. And on top of that, this isn't your personal money — it's the taxpayers' hard-earned money.