Law enforcement agencies seeking to resolve cold cases and family members dealing with the heartbreak of a missing loved got an important boost from legislation signed into law by Gov. Cuomo last week. The new law, which was sponsored by state Assemblyman Steve Otis, a Rye Democrat, and state Sen. Diane Savino, a Staten Island Democrat, promotes a more comprehensive sharing of fingerprints and other identifying data of unknown decedents by requiring medical examiners and coroners throughout New York to report this identifying information to the National Missing and Unidentified Remains System, NamUs.
The U.S. Department of Justice created the NamUs database to address the staggering number of human remains that go unidentified each year in this country. Of the approximately 4,400 unidentified human decedent cases that are handled annually by medical examiners and coroners nationwide, nearly a quarter cannot be identified after one year. Many remains are buried without identification.
Currently, more than 13,000 unidentified persons are listed in the NamUs database. Of the more than 2,300 cases that have been closed, NamUs has aided in the identification of a third of those unknown decedents. The NamUs database provides a convenient mechanism for medical examiners and coroners to report identifying information that can then be accessed by law enforcement agencies and family members alike. It is unique in that families can access the database directly and can even submit additional identifying information about their missing loved ones.
All county medical examiners in the state are required to report information about unidentified remains to the state Division of Criminal Justice. While some medical examiners also voluntarily convey this information to the NamUs system, there was no state law requirement to do so.
The need for the legislation was brought to Otis’ attention by critically acclaimed and national bestselling author Jan Burke, who founded the not-for-profit Crime Lab Project to advocate for better funding of crime labs and for improvement of forensic science.
Burke said, “Thanks to this new legislation, death investigation practices concerning unidentified remains will improve. The families of the missing in New York will have a much better chance of learning the fates of their loved ones. But the families of the missing are not the only ones who will benefit – this is a public safety issue.” (Submitted)
