LANSING, Mich. — A bill making its way through the Michigan House would help solve missing-person cases in Michigan, say its proponents.
The Michigan House says its Law & Justice Committee unanimously approved State Representative Tommy Brann’s legislation Tuesday, to require law-enforcement officials in the state to share information into a national missing-person database. House Bill 4633 now advances to the full House for consideration.
It specifies all information about missing, unidentified and unclaimed people be uploaded to the National Missing & Unidentified Persons System (NamUS). NamUs is a free system, and correlates information from law enforcers, medical examiners and the general public, comparing cases and evidence for possible matches.
Representative Brann, a Wyoming Republican, says the NamUs database will help solve cases and “give families answers on the whereabouts of their loved ones.”
Brann and Michigan State Police Sergeant/Detective Sarah Krebs gave testimony to the House committee on February 13.
Right now, the law-enforcement policy in Michigan is to share such information on the national Law Enforcement Information Network (LEIN). Brann’s bill would add NamUs.
“LEIN is an incredibly useful too for law enforcement,” said Brann, “but that doesn’t have the same capability of three databases working together for missing, unidentified and unclaimed persons. Using this database will save lives and provide the necessary closure for families and loved ones.”
