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New York, Connecticut, and Tennessee have already passed the 'Help Find the Missing' Act. |
As a result, solvable cases remain unsolved and families are left in the dark about the fate of their loved ones. In many instances, the failure to promptly identify bodies allows murderers to remain free long enough to victimize others.
Without federal legislation, states are tackling the issue on their own. New York, Connecticut, and Tennessee have passed the Help Find the Missing Act to aid in the search for missing persons. The new law requires police to enter all missing persons into a national database of the unidentified dead to improve the chances of matches between the two. The law also requires coroners and medical examiners to enter available DNA, fingerprints and dental information for any unidentified bodies that come through their offices.
Missing person advocates hope to make Missouri the fourth state in the nation to pass the Help Find the Missing Act.