LITTLE ROCK — Families and friends of missing Arkansans - some waiting 40 years or longer - have a chance to update their cases and maybe make some new connections.
On Aug. 11, the Arkansas attorney general’s office will host an event for sampling DNA, updating details and processing cases in any crime, missing persons or unidentified remains database lacking that information.
The Arkansas Crime Information Center, one of the organizations attending, lists more than 400 missing persons cases in the state, said Ronnie Baldwin, executive director of the Arkansas Sheriffs’ Association.
In addition, Baldwin said the state Crime Laboratory has a large number of unidentified remains.
Dental records and DNA samples could change that.
“Bring your mom, bring your sister,” said Cindy Murphy, communications director for the attorney general’s office.
Relatives of the missing person would be able to provide their own DNA and any objects that might have traces of DNA that could be used to identify current or future unidentified remains in the laboratory, she said.
That might include clothes, hairbrushes or any other objects once owned by the missing person.
Just matching DNA with unidentified remains could be a relief for some families, Murphy said, because it could provide a conclusion or piece of the puzzle.
Missing persons often choose to leave, and some simply end up in the wrong place at the wrong time, she said.
“And that’s what’s maddening for these families,” Murphy said. “They just don’t know.”
DNA science has come a long way since many families first reported missing persons, said Todd Matthews, communications manager for the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, called NamUs.
NamUs, which runs independently of the law enforcement Arkansas Crime Information Center database, lists 180 missing-persons cases in Arkansas, the oldest of which dates to 1976.
NamUs has fewer cases reported than the Arkansas Crime Information Center because it relies mainly on submitted information from people reporting the missing persons, Matthews said.
Because of this, each organization might have cases that the other doesn’t, he said.
Matthews said he hopes that the Aug. 11 event will give the databases a chance to get on the same page with more cases.
Matthews, Baldwin and Murphy all said people should bring photos, X-rays, medical and dental records, and anything else they think might be useful for investigators.
The event runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Arkansas State Police headquarters at 1 State Police Plaza Drive, just off Interstate 30 in Little Rock.
Arkansas, Pages 9 on 08/04/2012