A relatively new federal database, known as the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, or NamUs, holds out promise for many families hoping to finally know the fate of loved ones gone missing, including the hundreds annually across the country who drown at sea and whose bodies may have been found, but never identified.

NamUs began with a 2003 National Institute of Justice decision to fund the increased use of DNA technology in the criminal justice system. With over 40,000 unidentified bodies or body parts in medical examiner and coroners offices nationally, a task force recommended creating an interactive database that allows the public access to what had been the domain of law enforcement.

The result: a program to cross reference the national missing persons and unidentified remains databases. NamUs also allows the public to upload personal data into missing persons reports, including typical identifiers like hair color, tattoos, dental records, medical history, and genetic samples, to be compared with data that police, medical examiners and coroners enter on unidentified bodies.

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