National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
Hope for Families of Missing Loved Ones
From 2005 through 2011, NFSTC worked with the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) to develop, deliver and operate the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs).
Prior to the NamUs launch in 2009, families with missing loved ones had few places to turn in their quest for answers. NamUs (www.namus.gov) provides investigators and loved ones a powerful online system that offers hands-on access to a national database of records related to missing and unidentified persons.
NamUs facilitates the work of the diverse community of individuals and organizations who investigate missing and unidentified persons and crosses borders of states, counties, municipalities and precincts. The system reaches between different law enforcement professions and allows the general public to become actively involved.
NamUs Facts
- Nationwide, there are an estimated 100,000 active missing persons cases and more than 40,000 sets of human remains that have not been identified.
- The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) is a free web-based tool — accessible to everyone, but geared to families of missing persons, law enforcement, medical examiners/coroners and victim advocates — to assist in solving of missing and unidentified persons cases in the United States.
- Data regarding missing persons can be entered in NamUs by law enforcement professionals, missing persons clearinghouses and the general public.
- Anyone can access the NamUs system to search or track cases, print missing persons posters, find resources and even map out travel routes in an effort to locate a missing person.
- The system searches for potential matches between missing and unidentified cases. Potential matches are presented to law enforcement case managers for closer review.
For information, statistics and success stories, please visit the NamUs news room.
Learn more by viewing the NamUs posters that were presented at the National Institute of Justice conferences in 2010 and 2011.
NamUs Poster 2010 (926.0 KiB, 1,384 hits)
NamUs Poster 2011 (1.6 MiB, 398 hits)
Recognition
In September 2011, Charles Heurich, program manager and leader of the NamUs team, was named winner of the Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals (Sammies) in the Justice and Law Enforcement category. The system was honored for its innovation and creativity in working to solve a major national law enforcement challenge.
NamUs was recognized in May 2009 by the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) with an Excellence in Technology Award which recognizes law enforcement agencies’ superior achievement and innovation in the field of communication and information technology.
NamUs News
Crime scenes, field forensics, tools and training
Posted on October 21, 2011
Come see NFSTC at the IACP Conference in Chicago. Stop by booth #2131 to check out the interactive crime scene scenario, get the scoop on virtual reality crime scene training, learn about new digital evidence training, and more. While you’re there, register to win an iPad!
read more...Tampa Bay Business Journal selects Billy Young, NamUs Sr. Coordinator, as an “Up & Comer”
Posted on October 4, 2011
Each year, the Tampa Bay Business Journal recognizes young professionals in the Bay area who are making notable contributions to their organizations and are poised for success. This year, we’re proud to announce that Billy Young, NFSTC’s NamUs Sr. Coordinator, was selected among professionals under 30 years old for this recognition. In addition to playing [...]
read more...NamUs Team honored with Service to America Medal
Posted on September 16, 2011
Charles Heurich, program manager and leader of the team for the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs.gov), has been named the winner of the Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals (Sammies) in the Justice and Law Enforcement category. Nine awards were presented at a gala on September 15th in Washington, D.C.
Forensic science poster sessions at NIJ Conference
Posted on June 20, 2011
NFSTC is presenting four posters at the annual NIJ Conference in Arlington, VA this week. These presentations provide the latest findings and allow practitioners and researchers to share experiences and discuss the topic at hand.
read more...NamUs representatives attend Missing in Michigan event
Posted on May 12, 2011
NamUs representatives attended the Missing in Michigan event at Ford Field in Detroit on May 7, 2011. This first-time event, coordinated by Michigan State Police and other agencies, was a great success and assisted more than 40 families of the missing.
