DNA Question...

Carole Moore
Missing Persons Contributor
Officer.com

And Part of the Answer. The other day I received this comment on the blog: “I was wondering why law enforcement doesn’t reach out to different DNA databases for unidentified persons. We know to make a match the missing person has to have been reported missing and entered into that database. Many of the cold case solved cases prove to be a missing person that was never reported missing so wouldn’t be in a database for the UID to be compared to. Ancestry.com has a DNA project where a person can either order a DNA kit to submit or you can submit your own DNA values. It won’t tell you who an unidentified person is but it may give a lead to what Family the person came from. I know people that have said they used it and found cousins they never knew existed. It might at least narrow the search field.†Sgt. Stuart Harris of the Houston PD posted this informative response on the same thread: “I can only speak for my own agency – the Houston Police Department. When a missing persons case goes unresolved for more than 30 days, the investigator contacts the reportee or complainant and advises them of their ability to submit a DNA sample for CODIS evaluation. “All we can do is try to get folks to provide a sample. We cannot force the issue. We can take the sample, direst them to someone for collection, or have another law enforcement agency assist them if they are out of our jurisdiction. In the overwhelming majority of cases, the reportee or complainant does not submit. The case remains open of course, but when all leads have been exhausted, and without a DNA sample on file, the chances of a resolution are minimal. “My unit handles approximately 7500 cases per year. That’s missing adults, missing/runaway kids, and child custody cases. Almost all have a happy ending, but those that hang on, wear on the investigators as much as the family. “Ancestry.com, and others, are valuable tools to the missing persons investigator and are used frequently in conjunction with unidentified cases with medical examiner’s offices. However, many of those unidentified cases involve criminal acts. Because of the legal issues involved, CODIS is the best route to take for law enforcement. Now if we can just get a huge infusion of cash and resources for CODIS, so that the system could expand and return results in a timely manner, we would be in business. I’m not complaining. I remember life before CODIS, and know we are on the right track. I’m just impatient – One of my many character flaws I hope never changes.†Stuart Harris Sergeant Houston Police Department Missing Persons Unit Many thanks to Sgt. Harris for his reply. I also passed this question along to someone with impeccable academic credentials who, in turn, sent it to an expert in the field, who has yet to respond. In the meantime, here is what my contact he had to say (I made a few changes since the email was very casual): “I don't know the answer, althoughI would hazard a few guesses: They are still getting their own database to do the basics (likelooking for familial relationships), so this is really a next generation question; and People will be very troubled by the use of these voluntarydatabases by the government for investigative purposes, andpresumably, when customers of these companies submit their DNA, that is not what they are consenting to. You could imagine a voluntarydatabase to help identify missing persons, but to use geneticinformation people provide for one purpose for another would be ethically problematic. Would be an interesting idea to get thesecompanies to add a check-off box to ask people if they would consentto have their data used to help identify unidentified remains....†There’s a lot of material for future discussions here. Care to jump in? In the meantime, here’s a link to my missing/unidentified person for this post: http://www.theyaremissed.org/ncma/gallery/ncmaprofile_all.php?A200502981S Let’s bring Mariano home.