'NamUs' Site Crowdsources Missing Persons, But Lacks a Crowd

When a person goes missing, closure is one comfort that families seek. Unfortunately, it's not easy to solve a missing person case, but a new online database could change the process.

According to an Associated Press report, a government site called NamUs (Name Us) could help identify the 40,000 sets of unidentified remains in the U.S. -- if only law-enforcement agencies will get on board. Despite the fact that the site has helped to solve 16 missing person cases since last year, only about 1,100 of the country's nearly 17,000 law-enforcement agencies use the database.

In order for NamUs to do its job, law-enforcement officials register for the service and then upload all the information they have on unidentified remains. Then, anybody can go to the site and enter information they have on a missing person. It could be a photograph, dental records, or a DNA sample. If any of the information matches, the proper law-enforcement agency will be notified so the investigation can continue.

As of now, about 6,200 sets of remains and nearly 2,800 missing people have been entered onto the site. But Janice Smolinski, whose son Billy went missing five years ago, is pushing a bill in Congress that would provide more funding for the site and give it more publicity. With her efforts and cooperative crowdsourcing, maybe those numbers will increase this year, and a few more families will find some small comfort. [From: AP/Google]

Tags: crime, crowdsourcing, database, government, missingpersons, namus, police, top, website