KALAMAZOO COUNTY, Mich. — In late March the senate in Lansing approved a bill, 38-0, that would require all law enforcement agencies to submit missing persons information into a national database. Thursday, Governor Rick Snyder signed it.
“It’s great a bill,” said author Rep. Tommy Brann (R-Wyoming) during a phone interview. “It’s going to save lives and going to put closures for families.”
Kalamazoo County Sheriff Richard Fuller said that many agencies already use a number of different national services in their search for missing persons. However, now the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System — also called NamUs — will serve as an additional tool in their searches.
“Anything that is going to help law enforcement connect people back to their families faster is a great thing,” said Sheriff Fuller in an interview at the department.
Rep. Brann said the bill is to ultimately help the families of missing persons cases. When Jessica Heeringa went missing in 2013 after working the late shift at a gas station in Norton Shores, her family and friends looked for her many times. Ana Carrillo’s loved one did the same after she vanished last year.
“If you have a missing person, you want to be involved because you love that missing person,” said Rep. Brann. “You can help find this missing person, so you can add [them] to the computer system and make sure.”
Tragically both women died. It was the same fate for Theresa Lockhart who disappeared after she didn’t report to work after a few days. Rep. Brann said there are thousands of missing persons cases in the state. He’s hoping the bill will save lives or at least bring the families peace.
“The closures sometimes will takes years,” said Rep. Brann. “But hopefully this is going to put it faster than years.”
