It’s being held on Saturday, May 5, 2018.
(PIKESVILLE, Md.) — Maryland State Police is hosting an event designed to assist investigators in their efforts to locate people reported missing in the state.
The Maryland Missing Person Day 2018 event is set for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 5, 2018 at state police headquarters, located at 1201 Reisterstown Road in Pikesville, Md. The event is sponsored by Maryland State Police, the Maryland Center for Missing and Unidentified Persons, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the National Missing Unidentified Persons System (NAMUS).
“The free event is opened to the public and designed for family and friends with loved ones missing for longer than 30 days”, said State Police spokesman Ron Snyder. “Those at the event will be able to enter information into NAMUS, a national centralized repository and resource center for missing persons and unidentified decedent records”.
NAMUS is a free online system that can be searched by medical examiners, coroners, law enforcement officials and the general public from all over the country in hopes of resolving these cases. Maryland has solved 169 missing person cases since 2004 thanks to assistance from NAMUS.
The event will also give law enforcement officials the chance to collect cheek swabs of biologically-related family members of the missing person for entry into the DNA database. In addition, visitors will be able to connect with law enforcement officials and other families who have a loved one missing.
“Organizers are asking those interested to bring ID photos of the missing person, X-rays, dental or medical records, police records and other identifying documents connected to the missing person”, continued Snyder.
On average, more than 13,000 people are reported missing each year in Maryland. Of those cases, approximately 95 percent of them are eventually resolved.
The Maryland Center for Missing and Unidentified Persons (MCMUP) was established by Maryland Family Law in 1985 as the state’s clearinghouse for missing persons information, and is a unit within the Maryland State Police, Technical Investigation Section, which also consists of the Missing Child Recovery Unit, Computer Crimes Unit, and Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force.