Latest news with #NationalMissingandUnidentifiedPersonsSystem
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ohio bill hoping to help solve missing persons cases in the state
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – A recently introduced Ohio bill inspired by a Columbus man's disappearance aims to help solve missing persons cases in the state. The FIND Act, sponsored by Reps. Christine Cockley (D-Columbus) and Kevin Ritter (R-Marietta), would require law enforcement agencies in the state to enter missing people into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) within 30 days of a report being filed with police. NamUs is a free national database of missing persons and unidentified remains. Dental records, fingerprints and DNA profiles can be uploaded to the platform, helping law enforcement, medical examiners and coroners identify remains as missing people. Since the database was launched in 2007, it has helped solve over 46,000 cases across the country. 'We are at a pivotal moment when technology can help solve cases that have remained unsolved for years,' Cockley said in a statement. 'The FIND Act will equip law enforcement and medical professionals across Ohio with the tools they need to support families of the missing, while also giving families and the public a greater voice in the process.' At the bill's first hearing in April, Cockley said every day on her drive to work, she passes a billboard on West Broad Street featuring information about Andrew 'Andy' Chapman, who has been missing from her district since 2006. She said Andy's story inspired her to introduce the legislation. 'Andy's case is not an isolated one,' Cockley said. 'There are hundreds of families in Ohio still waiting for answers. What makes that wait even harder is knowing that we are not using all the tools we have available.' While many police departments in the state do enter missing people into NamUs, it is currently not required by law. Andy Chapman's sister Aimee Chapman said when Cockley called and shared that the billboard inspired her to introduce a bill, her family was 'so happy.' 'If you are familiar with Andy's story, unfortunately he fell into opioid addiction, and I feel like we're changing his legacy,' Aimee Chapman said. 'We're changing it from a missing addict to somebody who's making a difference.' While the bill likely will not make a difference in Andy Chapman's case, which was entered into NamUs by Columbus police in 2011, Aimee Chapman said she hopes it can help other missing people. 'If we can help another family not have to go through the mishaps that we went through by getting this bill passed, that would be a huge victory for our family,' Aimee Chapman said. Currently, over 1,100 residents – including both adults and children – are missing, according to a database maintained by the state's attorney general's office. Recorded cases date to 1928, with the disappearance of 4-year-old Melvin Horst. If the act is signed into law, Ohio would become the 17th state in the country to mandate the use of NamUs in missing persons investigations. The bill has 17 cosponsors, consisting of both Democrats and Republicans. It was assigned to the House's Public Safety Committee, where residents will have the chance to testify in support and opposition of the bill. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Yahoo
Sisters Spent 17 Years Searching for Brother Before a Cold Case Project Revealed He Died by Suicide in 2007
Grieving sisters spent almost two decades searching for their brother, Jean Eli Gonzalez, who went missing after he traveled to Chicago in 2007 This spring, they learned he had died by suicide that same year as part of a cold case project Now, the family is preparing to go to his grave to give their "last goodbye"On Sept. 15, 2007, 23-year-old Jean Eli Gonzalez called his mom back home in Puerto Rico to let her know that he'd arrived safely in Chicago. Then she never heard from him again. Almost two decades later, his family — who spent years grappling with unanswered questions that only fueled their fear and despair — finally learned what happened to him. According to CBS News, Gonzalez's name was uploaded into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) by the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office as part of a cold case project in February 2025, eventually leading his family to learn that their beloved son and brother had died by suicide. His body had been found hanging off a billboard in a railroad yard near the Dan Ryan Expressway on Sept. 24, 2007, just nine days after he arrived in Chicago, according to the police report reviewed by PEOPLE. Investigators confirmed the cause of death was the result of depression. 'The only relief we have is that we know now where he [died] and that we can say goodbye to him,' his sister, Vilmarilys Hernandez, tells PEOPLE. But so many questions remain, she says. Gonzalez was a kind man, who wasn't afraid to fight for others. Vilmarilys remembers once when her brother, then 15 years old, jumped in to protect middle school students from a group of older high school students when they were growing up in San Lorenzo. He was stabbed with a pocket knife and hospitalized. 'My brother saw that nobody was doing anything and he intervened,' the 45-year-old esthetician says. 'So, that was my brother.' But Gonzalez had his struggles. He was using drugs and decided to go to Chicago for a substance abuse program, Segunda Vida, which he learned about from local police officers. His mom still has the brochure. (The treatment facility is now defunct.) A week after Gonzalez arrived in Chicago and told his mom a person from the program had picked him up, Vilmarilys had a disturbing dream. 'He was telling me in the airport, 'Don't worry, everything's going to be okay. I love you,' ' she remembers. 'And I took that as goodbye.' Vilmarilys woke up crying and immediately urged her mom to call the program. When their mom reached an employee at the program, she was told that the family couldn't talk to Gonzalez. The program never called back as promised, according to Vilmarilys. Days later, an employee told the worried mom that Gonzalez had left the program. So began the family's desperate search. Vilmarilys recalls calling the Chicago Police Department, local hospitals and homeless shelters in the area. She was unable to file a missing persons report, despite her request to authorities. She then called any place she could think of, seeking help for days, weeks and months, which turned into years. The grieving sister says the toll on her family was great. 'Maybe he doesn't want to talk with us. Maybe he's mad at us,' Vilmarilys says of the questions Gonzalez's four siblings and mom had as they feared what had happened to him. 'Maybe he's ashamed of himself, but what's going on? Maybe he's cold, maybe he's hungry.' Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. It wasn't until this spring that they learned Gonzalez had died. In 2023, the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office began inputting the paper files of cold cases of unidentified people into NamUs, focusing on the years from 1988 to 2014, a Cook County spokesperson confirmed to PEOPLE. 'Our staff worked tirelessly to find photos, biological samples for DNA analysis, fingerprint cards and dental information for these decedents in order to create a record,' the Cook County spokesperson says. 'Law enforcement agencies have been critical partners in this process by searching their warehouses and evidence rooms for anything that could assist in identifying these decedents.' So far, more than 200 decedents have been included in NamUs and 20 cases have been resolved, with Gonzalez's case being one of them. After his case was put into NamUs, CBS News reported, Vilmarilys saw his picture on Facebook, which had been reposted by a group of mothers who wanted to help people find their missing loved ones. His identity was confirmed after Vilmarilys and her sister traveled to Chicago to provide a DNA sample. But with the confirmation came new grief. They learned that Gonzalez's body had been found with a handwritten note in Spanish, which contained the Serenity Prayer. Their brother's name was written at the top, which prompted the investigating officer to use the name for the deceased, according to the police report. After the investigating officer found a woman with the same name in Elmwood Park, who had no knowledge of the dead man, the name was changed to unknown. After that, a copy of the report was sent to the missing persons department and the case was suspended, pending identification of the deceased, the police report said. Vilmarilys was disturbed by what she tells PEOPLE was a lack of a thorough investigation, especially because she'd given authorities a description of her brother and had called to ask about his disappearance for years. The Chicago Police Department did not respond to PEOPLE's request for comment about her claims. Additionally, the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office would not share any specifics about Gonzalez's case with PEOPLE. Vilmarilys and her sister were unable to get Gonzalez's remains, which, according to CBS News, have been interred in Homewood Memorial Gardens, which has served as Cook County's potter's field for unclaimed bodies, since 2008. Gonzalez's family, however, was able to start a donation page, so their brother could have a proper headstone. The sisters created matching T-shirts that say 'we found you' in Spanish and plan on visiting his grave. Vilmarilys tells PEOPLE, 'We are just waiting for the day to go there and say our last goodbye to him.' Read the original article on People
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Illinois may update missing person database policy with bill in Statehouse
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WCIA) — A bill overhauling how police respond to a missing persons case is gaining traction in the State Capitol. The proposal would require law enforcement to accept any missing persons cases without any waiting period. Police would also be required to share fingerprints and any DNA they have on the subject with National Databases. Senator Michael Hastings (D-Frankfort), the bill's Senate sponsor, said if this bill passes, no missing persons case will be closed until they are reported and identified, as cases will no longer be closed due to an exhaustion of leads. He also argues more rules will help bring more missing people home. School bus seat belt bill passes Illinois House, heading to Pritzker 'This bill actually makes sure that number one, that they do utilize fingerprints and DNA, that they do report it in the National Database, and that postmortem they have to go ahead and submit the information within seven days of recovery of the body,' Hastings said. Hastings worked with the Cook County Sheriff's Office on the bill. Their office runs Missing Women's Project, which works to locate women who have been missing for at least three years. According to the Department of Justice's National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, Illinois has 461 open missing persons cases, 429 open unidentified persons cases and 93 open unclaimed persons cases. 'Bring Your Own New Clean Energy': a proposed fix for Illinois' power grid shortcomings draws criticism from manufacturers 'Minorities are disproportionately affected by this. Homeless people are affected by this. All of those people have families,' Hastings said. 'And they should know where their loved one is, especially if they are found.' The bill passed the Senate with unanimous support and now heads to the House of Representatives, where it's sponsored by Rep. Bob Rita (D-Blue Island). Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Yahoo
Body found in Santa Fe National Forest identified as 1950s grappler
Human remains discovered more than two decades ago in the Santa Fe National Forest have been identified as Keeble Wofford Sr., known in the 1950s as actor and wrestler Kimo Mahi, who had been missing since 1992. The case is the fourth in New Mexico in which state officials have been able to positively identify someone using the DNA testing technology of forensic genealogy company Othram, the firm claims. Wofford's bones were found by hikers in the forest in Sandoval County in 2001 and reported to the Sandoval County Sheriff's Office, Othram said in a news release. Deputies entered the case into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System as Sandoval County John Doe, whose identity remained a mystery. Kimo Kimo Mahi In 2021, the sheriff's office and the state Office of the Medical Investigator sent the remains to the lab of Texas-based Othram, which used a process it calls "forensic-grade genome sequencing" to build a DNA profile from the remains, the news release states. Othram compared a DNA sample from Wofford's daughter to the unidentified remains and was able to positively identify them, the company said. A death certificate was then drafted for Wofford, and his cremated remains were returned to his daughter. Investigators believe Wofford had been traveling from Pueblo, Colo., to Albuquerque in September 1992 for a business meeting and "was never heard from again," the news release says. Wofford competed as wrestler Kimo Mahi in the 1950s and '60s. He was described in an El Paso Herald-Post column as a "plucky Hawaiian grappler." He also appeared in at least one film — Twilight for the Gods, starring Rock Hudson and Cyd Charisse — and several television shows, according to IMDb, including the series Hawaiian Eye and Sea Hunt. Othram's technology has been used in the past to identify the remains of two women found in and near Albuquerque as well as a suspect in a 1987 rape and murder case in Carlsbad, according to the company. "People should know that it doesn't matter how old a case is, or whether it was hopeless in the past, there is technology here today that is able to bring answers to families like in this case," Kristen Mittelman, the company's chief development officer, said in a statement. "This was a well-known man who just disappeared more than 20 years ago and now he has his name again."
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Yahoo
Missing Persons Day: Families still seeking loved ones who disappeared
The Brief On Thursday for Missing Persons Day, loved ones of those who have disappeared and never found gathered to share their stories. The family of Randall Childs spoke about him going missing since June 7, 2011. He and his girlfriend, Karen Young, were never heard from again. DETROIT (FOX 2) - For the families of Michigan's missing, giving up is never an option. On Thursday, some of them came together not just to grieve but to remind the world that their loved ones are still out there, and they're still searching. Every year, investigators across the state law enforcement will investigate 9,000 missing children. Thankfully, most will come home, but right now there are 3,500 missing people in the state. People like Randall Childs, who has been missing since June 7, 2011. The backstory "My light has dimmed a little," said Sharon Murray, Randall Childs' brother. "I will never stop looking for my brother." Loved ones say he had a disagreement with his girlfriend, walked out the door - then vanished into the night. "He went to walk her down out of the apartment because it was late. That was the last time anyone has seen him," said Murray. Incredibly, both of them - Randall and Karen Young, disappeared without a trace, and no goodbye. "The family is kind of stumped now," Murray said. "Where is Randall? He would not have gone missing and not contacted his family." His family says they have searched everywhere, like abandoned houses, shells of buildings, and the medical examiner's office. They've covered streets with flyers, covered billboards with his face, and have left no stone unturned. "Give us some kind of tip or anything. We're looking for my uncle," said Mario Mathis, Randall's nephew. "We can't say somebody did something to him. We're looking for my uncle." Thursday, families who share this same unbearable pain stood shoulder to shoulder for Missing Persons Day. They gathered not just in grief, but in hope. Hope that someone, anyone will come forward with even the smallest clue. "A lot of these families are hurting," said Inspector Sarah Krebs, state police. "And we really need people to be on the lookout for their loved ones and bring us answers." Across the country, according to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, at any given time, about 100,000 people or more are reported missing. The Source Information for this story came from interviews with the family of Randall Childs and Michigan State Police.
