Majority of unidentified bodies go unreported

"It's as if America fought a secret war and suffered tens of thousands of casualties, each an unknown soldier buried in an unmarked grave.

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.

Most are 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."

The link for the complete article is:
http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051029/NEWS01/510290372

Marilynilpa said:

"It's as if America fought a secret war and suffered tens of thousands of casualties, each an unknown soldier buried in an unmarked grave.

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.

Most are 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."

The link for the complete article is:
http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051029/NEWS01/510290372

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Thanks for the link. This is such a sad situation not only for the families but for the people who are buried as "doe's".

Believe this is similar to what happened recenty with Krista Dorsey. Marilynilpa, I think you have seen her thread on this forum......when RDL said that if need be, the skeleton parts can be exhumed, i just felt sick. Seems that maybe there were several skeleton bones found in that same area,,,along with missing young girls. IMO

I'm going to be featuring two stories of "victims" of this "silent crisis" in my blog soon, probably in a week or so. It's rather shocking.

Kelly said:

I'm going to be featuring two stories of "victims" of this "silent crisis" in my blog soon, probably in a week or so. It's rather shocking.

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I was very shocked by the article, I certainly had no idea so many unidentified bodies are not reported to the authorities.

I look forward to reading the two stories you refer to.

Kelly said:

I'm going to be featuring two stories of "victims" of this "silent crisis" in my blog soon, probably in a week or so. It's rather shocking.

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I look forward to reading your feature stories. This is indeed very disturbing.

Kelly,I always read your blog. So well written and told with compassion and truth. Kudos for job well done.

petra

Thanks, Petra.

I know of yet another case where the person was found dead within a fairly short period of time after his disappearance, but yet it took 4 years to figure out who he was. 4 years! 4 years of anguish for his parents!

This happened mostly because of the antiquidated systems that the federal government has for the entry of such persons. The two systems that should have caught the match did not because the way his data was entered was not quite the same way as the matching system. A human found the match, using manual search methods.

Kelly

I have posted some articles about the problems with missing in the US. They are currently discussing starting a National DNA database. That would help so much in tracking down and matching the missing cases and the unidentified remains. It is something we need to get behind and encourage. Currently if someone goes missing in one area, and is dumped in another part of the country- it is more or less a fluke if the missing person is connected to the remains.
Here are the other articles:
http://websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=31583

This is from the National Center for Missing Adults, I've already contacted my local legislator

The National Center for Missing Adults (NCMA) is proud to announce “Project Identify.” The goal of this project is to facilitate the collection of DNA reference samples from families of missing adults. Samples will be collected by the investigating law enforcement agency and submitted to the University of North Texas Science Center (UNTHSC) for analysis. After analysis has been completed the profiles will be uploaded into the FBI’s Combined DNA Index system (CODIS) Missing Person’s Database. In an effort to ensure collection is made of all missing person’s family members we will be contacting each family registered with our agency to request your local law enforcement agency carry out the collection and submission of the reference sample.

For additional information regarding the process of identifying remains of a victim through DNA analysis we strongly recommend reading the U.S. Department of Justice, Identifying Victims Using DNA: A Guide for Families. You may access the guide at http://www.ncjrs.org/pdffiles1/nij/209493.pdf.Hard copies can also be obtained by calling 1-800-851-3420 or by email at http://askncjrs.ncjrs.org/

Additional Resources:
DNA.GOV
National Institute of Justice (NIJ)
You Can Make A Difference:
We encourage you to educate your local and state representatives regarding the need for law enforcement, medical examiners and coroners to improve response to missing and unidentified persons. Model State Legislation Addressing Missing Persons and the Identification of Remains

From my blog post entitled "The Cold Case King", this is the general information about this for all ages:

"There are several ways a family can contribute to the database of missing persons. One is to contact the local FBI office and sign a wavier. The FBI will then take a blood spot sample (simple prick on the finger) and send it to their lab and it will be profiled.

If the missing is a person under 21 and the parents are willing, contact NCMEC and request a wavier. We will mail you a wavier and send a buccal swab kit (cotton swab for the inside of the cheek) to the police department in your community. An officer must be the one to take the swab. Your swab is sent to the University of North Texas Health Science Center and the swab will be profiled and entered into CODIS. The reason the FBI requires a blood spot and the other uses buccal swabs is the equipment at the lab. The FBI’s lab uses blood spot, the other doesn’t. Both are reliable methods of securing DNA.

Important note to all families of the missing: If your missing loved one has been gone for more than 30 days, and you do not have anything of theirs for to process for DNA, you may get your own (or other appropriate family member) DNA processed FREE of charge and entered into CODIS by the DNA lab. (Even if you do not live in the same state as where the person went missing, you can still do this.) Contact the LE handling the case. If the person is over age 20, have them contact the National Center for Missing Adults at 1-800-690-FIND for instructions. If the missing person is under age 21, have call NCMEC at 1-800-THE LOST. If your LE refuses to do this, call these organizations directly for assistance."

http://voice4themissing.blogspot.com/2005/10/102905-cold-case-king-part-ii.html

This is a problem that we know about because of our coming here and to similiar sites. But otherwise I think the average citizen is totally unaware of the magnitude of the problem.
Even coming here, I wasn't aware of the numbers, until the recent articles which are coming out.
Does anyone think it would help in the support of the DNA projects if we researched, then set up and advertised a website which explains the magnitude of the problem, and the currently proposed solutions, as well as listing contact info for every legislator we can find?
Once we got a site online, I think we could then get the crime blogs behind it. I know I would help anyone who wanted to tackle this, and I believe there are others here who would also volunteer.

FYI: I have started my series about this on my blog. It will get "better" every day, or perhaps I should say worse.

Kelly