Mary
July 16th, 2008, 2:41 pm
http://www.local12.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=237bbc3b-20cf-4252-a37e-ffe25476e835
New Tool To Match Remains To Missing Persons
Last Update: 7/08 9:21 am
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http://www.local12.com/images/videobullet.gifNew Tool To Match Remains To Missing Persons (http://www.local12.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?videoid=30436@video.wkrc.com)
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A local mother's dedication could help solve thousands of family mysteries and some murders.
Debbie Culberson is on the board of the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System.
Culberson worked with the Justice Department to create a centralized, online tool to match the unidentified dead, with missing persons across the country.
Local 12's Deborah Dixon shows how, for Culberson, the mission is personal, as she looks for the remains of her daughter, Carrie, killed 12 years ago.
Great American Ball Park filled to capacity. It would take 8,000 more people to equal the number of unidentified dead in America.
"The number of unidentified bodies is astounding," said Dr. Amy Burrows-Beckham, Kentucky medical examiner. "It's been called the nation's silent national disaster."
Some of the unidentified dead were murdered. Thousands have families searching for answers.
There was no way to do that, until now.
Now there is NamUs, the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System.
Debbie Culberson is looking for daughter, Carrie's, remains. Possibly this skull. The X-ray was taken after ex-boyfriend Vince Doan hit her in the head. He's doing life for her murder. Carrie's body has never been found.
Now, Debbie can search NamUs for her remains by comparing Carrie's profile, in the missing person database with the database of unidentified dead.
Kentucky's Forensic Anthropologist Emily Craig helps Debbie Culberson create Carrie's profile. The missing persons part of NamUs will be up in the fall.
The two, Tri-State women were forces behind NamUs. For Dr. Craig, it means possible identification of some of the 54 unidentified dead in Kentucky, alone. Dr. Craig's created profiles on all of them.
"There is incredible potential on both sides of the equation," said Dr. Craig. "Coroners have to get information into the database. And even more important, families of the missing have to get information into the database."
Information such as a broken bones, or a childhood head injury, but dental records. are the most important identifier.
Families can take a digital photo for NamUs.
No remains in NamUs match Carrie so far. But the database is growing by thousands daily as coroners and medical examiners enter profiles.
Now, Debbie can search for Carrie, usually at night when she can't sleep. Something she says will not change until her search is over.
The cases on the NaMus web site are open to investigators and the public.
This fall, families can begin entering profiles of their missing loved ones. They will be reviewed by a gatekeeper before they are added to the system.
www.namus.gov (http://www.namus.gov)
New Tool To Match Remains To Missing Persons
Last Update: 7/08 9:21 am
Print Story (javascript:window.print();) | Email Story (javascript:__doPostBack('ctl00$ctl00$ctl00$ctl00$ctl00$CommonPage$CommonBody$CommonContent$CommonLeftColumn$Main$V$_$EmailStory',''))
http://www.local12.com/images/textsize/11N.gifhttp://www.local12.com/images/textsize/12S.gifhttp://www.local12.com/images/textsize/14N.gifhttp://www.local12.com/images/textsize/16N.gif
http://www.local12.com/images/videobullet.gifNew Tool To Match Remains To Missing Persons (http://www.local12.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?videoid=30436@video.wkrc.com)
http://wkrc.img.cdn.dayport.com/img/dp_thumbs/thumb_1215523102468_0p6067073840656501.jpg
A local mother's dedication could help solve thousands of family mysteries and some murders.
Debbie Culberson is on the board of the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System.
Culberson worked with the Justice Department to create a centralized, online tool to match the unidentified dead, with missing persons across the country.
Local 12's Deborah Dixon shows how, for Culberson, the mission is personal, as she looks for the remains of her daughter, Carrie, killed 12 years ago.
Great American Ball Park filled to capacity. It would take 8,000 more people to equal the number of unidentified dead in America.
"The number of unidentified bodies is astounding," said Dr. Amy Burrows-Beckham, Kentucky medical examiner. "It's been called the nation's silent national disaster."
Some of the unidentified dead were murdered. Thousands have families searching for answers.
There was no way to do that, until now.
Now there is NamUs, the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System.
Debbie Culberson is looking for daughter, Carrie's, remains. Possibly this skull. The X-ray was taken after ex-boyfriend Vince Doan hit her in the head. He's doing life for her murder. Carrie's body has never been found.
Now, Debbie can search NamUs for her remains by comparing Carrie's profile, in the missing person database with the database of unidentified dead.
Kentucky's Forensic Anthropologist Emily Craig helps Debbie Culberson create Carrie's profile. The missing persons part of NamUs will be up in the fall.
The two, Tri-State women were forces behind NamUs. For Dr. Craig, it means possible identification of some of the 54 unidentified dead in Kentucky, alone. Dr. Craig's created profiles on all of them.
"There is incredible potential on both sides of the equation," said Dr. Craig. "Coroners have to get information into the database. And even more important, families of the missing have to get information into the database."
Information such as a broken bones, or a childhood head injury, but dental records. are the most important identifier.
Families can take a digital photo for NamUs.
No remains in NamUs match Carrie so far. But the database is growing by thousands daily as coroners and medical examiners enter profiles.
Now, Debbie can search for Carrie, usually at night when she can't sleep. Something she says will not change until her search is over.
The cases on the NaMus web site are open to investigators and the public.
This fall, families can begin entering profiles of their missing loved ones. They will be reviewed by a gatekeeper before they are added to the system.
www.namus.gov (http://www.namus.gov)