JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – A Missouri House Committee will meet on Wednesday to hear about a bill that could help in bringing answers to Missouri missing persons cases. These answers could give closure to at least two Missouri families who have been searching for their missing loved ones for decades, according to an article from the House.
House Bill 1716 introduces the idea of requiring law enforcement agencies to file information in the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, or NamUs. This database stores information about missing persons or unidentified human remains, which can include physical descriptions, DNA results, or both.
Additional training for law enforcement would also be given with the bill. This would require a few elements for unidentified remains:
Fingerprinting must be submitted to the Highway Patrol.
A dental examination must be performed.
It must be recorded in the NamUs database within 30 days of finding the remains.
The more information that is put into the system, the better chances there are of finding or identifying missing persons cases.
Only 12 states currently require officials to document information in the database. Rep. Tricia Byrnes, R-Wentzville, is encouraging Missouri to be the 13th.
“Really, it’s an awareness bill. It’s going to create awareness that this tool is available because if everyone participates, the data becomes more reliable,” Byrnes said. “The more states that can come on board, the better off the entire country of finding missing persons will be, because we won’t have these holes across the country.”
There are currently 120 unidentified bodies in Missouri according to Namus, but there is a good chance there are many more out there.
A breakthrough with the bill could lead to connections not just in Missouri but across the country as well. A St. Louis teen went missing in 1981, and the body was found in Arizona in 1982 but remained unidentified up until three years ago. Although the case is still unsolved, the family was awestruck to know at least one of their questions was answered.
“Everybody deserves to be found and put to rest, or just found in general,” Courtney Nelson, board member and advocate of the Missouri Persons Support Center, said. “If there is an unidentified person, there is a family out there wondering where they’re at or looking for them, and I just think having law enforcement take the time to really care and add all of this information in there is really going to revitalize the hope for these families that have been waiting for so long.”
Scherer’s family is one of those that have been waiting.
“We actually have a tombstone and (Cheryl’s) is between mom and dad’s,” Scherer-Morris said. “The ultimate goal would just (be to) be able to find her and lay her to rest between mom and dad. I just feel like that’s what we owe, to keep trying to find, for her. We have to keep being her voice; we have to keep being her advocate because she can’t do that for herself.”
House Bill 1716 will be introduced by the House Committee on Emerging Issues Wednesday at 4 p.m. Rep. Byrnes is asking those who are concerned or have a personal statement to testify or submit a testimony online. To watch the hearing on Wednesday, click here.
