DeWine unveils recommendations to help close missing persons cases in Ohio

May 28—A group of law enforcement, family members of the missing, advocates and educators have called for several changes aimed at improving the efficiency of missing persons investigations in Ohio.
Governor Mike DeWine and Ohio Department of Public Safety Director Andy Wilson announced nearly 20 recommendations from the Ohio Missing Persons Working Group on Tuesday. The group recommended 18 areas of improvement around information sharing between law enforcement agencies, communication between family members and investigators, continued professional training, and public education.
The group was formed in January.
DeWine has already ordered several agencies to carry out these recommendations, including automating notification of law enforcement agencies of Endangered Missing Child Alerts, creating a best practices guide on interacting with families of missing persons, expanding the Ohio Prisoner Extradition Reimbursement Program, and continued professional training for the healthcare industry on law enforcement exemptions to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, commonly known as HIPAA.
Additionally, several state agencies that work with children and mental health have been directed to work with local law enforcement to develop a pilot program for advocates to support at-risk youth who regularly leave their homes or group home settings.
"Thousands of children and adults are reported missing each year, and although most are located quickly, some simply vanish, leaving anguished families behind and adding to law enforcement's growing caseload," DeWine said. "The goal of this working group was to identify what more we could do as a state to help law enforcement bring more missing people home and support family members during a time of great despair."
Other recommendations were made to the Ohio Attorney General's Bureau of Criminal Investigation, whose Missing Persons Unit is the state authority on missing persons investigations, according to the Governor's office.
Suggestions for BCI include the creation of a central repository of resources for families and investigators, the launch of an annual missing persons conference, and the establishment of a confidential forum for law enforcement to discuss investigative techniques and perform case reviews.
'A great idea'
House Minority Leader Allison Russo, D-Upper Arlington, told reporters Wednesday that she supports the task force findings and deferred to her colleague Rep. Christine Cockley, D-Columbus, who joint sponsors a bipartisan bill that would require all Ohio law enforcement to upload missing persons' information into a national database within 30 days of a report.
"We think it's a great idea, (Cockley) is certainly supportive of it and we have legislation in this space to address these missing person cases," Russo said.
House Speaker Matt Huffman, R-Lima, said he'd like to take time to review the task force's recommendations, but said it should be something the legislature could get done before lawmakers go on summer recess.
"I think we could probably get that done by June 30. So, I think we'll take the recommendations, see what that looks like, and try to get that done," he said.

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