Feature: Finding Missing Persons

In recognition of National Missing Children’ Day, NIJ reminds readers of our ongoing work on an important new tool to identify missing people and solve cases of unidentified human remains. The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, NamUs, will connect two public databases: one containing missing persons records (in development now); the other containing unidentified decedent cases (searchable now and growing daily, as medical examiners an coroners around the country continue to upload cases).

In 2009, the two databases will be linked to allow automatic, continuous searches for “hits” between the databases to solve missing and unidentified persons cases in the United States.

NamUs is made possible by the President’s DNA Initiative, which focuses on developing tools and technology to use DNA in the criminal justice system.

  Read a story from the NIJ Journal about missing persons
  Learn about NamUs
  Learn about National Missing Children’s Day