mysteriew
A diamond in process
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There is a committee in the U.S. Department of Justice which is studying the issue of a National DNA database for missing persons. We can help here. Because it is going to cost money, there is going to need to be a lot of public support. We can let our senators, representives and other government officials know we support this issue. No family member should be denied the right to bury their loved one, and to know where that burial site is. No more families should have to walk that path of not knowing whether their loved one is dead or alive, just because their body was found in another part of the country.
Hamilton County Coroner Dr. O'dell Owens says one of the best ways to identify unknown bodies is to have a national missing persons DNA databank.
And as a member of a U.S. Department of Justice committee studying that issue, Owens said creating such a resource will be a top priority.
The databank would allow a direct relative of a missing person to provide a DNA sample. Then, when an unidentified body is found, DNA information could be fed into the database to enable search for a match.
"Right now, it's just one-to-one," Owens said. "We have to suspect a person is a match before making a comparison."
The only current national database of DNA samples is held by the FBI - and all of the people represented in it have been suspects in or convicted of crimes.
There's no DNA on file nationally for those with a clean criminal history.
http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051029/NEWS01/510290357