Information on a National Registry of unidentifed remains

[mysteriew]

These are an article and an editorial I found regarding a national database of unidentified remains in the US. Something we don't have. Please read, and if so moved- please let your legislators know about your feelings on this matter.
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Missing-person experts estimate that the bodies of 40,000 to 50,000 unidentified men, women and children have been found by police during the past 50 years. These John, Jane and Baby Does were sent to local coroners and medical examiners for examination and then anonymously buried or cremated.

Slightly more than half are suspected murder victims.

But in what one expert calls "a silent crisis," the vast majority of unidentified bodies go unreported to state or federal authorities, according to a Scripps Howard News Service study of confidential FBI records.

Few states or local governments require that Doe cases be reported to any outside agency, and most coroners lack authority -- or even the necessary computer links -- to report directly to the FBI, the study found.
http://www.commercialappeal.com/mca/nation_and_world/article/0,1426,MCA_454_4145991,00.html

bugmenot: falken@dod.gov
joshua

Scripps Howard News Service's Thomas Hargrove reports that there is a potential solution: a central, computerized national register of unidentified bodies that's open to public use. But because of legislative inaction and red tape, the United States doesn't have one.

"As a result," writes Hargrove, "homicide detectives are increasingly overwhelmed with growing backlogs of cold cases."
http://www.tcpalm.com/tcp/pj_editorials/article/0,2546,TCP_1125_4140754,00.html

bugmenot: youareso@foolish.com
idiots

[tennessee]

There was a story on our local news a year or so ago about the skeletal remains of a girl of appx. 13 that were found in a rural E. TN county. The remains were at the University in their forensic sciences dept. She was unidentified and I believe that they estimated her being deceased for 10 years or so. I wish I knew how to go about getting more information as to what they know about her so I could attempt to find an id match.

I just find it hard to believe that a child can go missing and no one wonders enough to inquire what happened to them.

A national registry would be wonderful.



JMHO

[mysteriew]

There was a story on our local news a year or so ago about the skeletal remains of a girl of appx. 13 that were found in a rural E. TN county. The remains were at the University in their forensic sciences dept. She was unidentified and I believe that they estimated her being deceased for 10 years or so. I wish I knew how to go about getting more information as to what they know about her so I could attempt to find an id match.

I just find it hard to believe that a child can go missing and no one wonders enough to inquire what happened to them.

A national registry would be wonderful.



JMHO
They are starting to put some info on these old remains on the web now.
Suggestions of places to look are the county sheriff's dept webpage, if the coroner's dept has a webpage, and look for a state missing person's website- sometimes they are on there. Also, check to see if she was listed in Doe Network, I think you can go by state there. Do you remember the county it was in, the year she was found in or anything?