Seeking Relatives of Unclaimed Persons

“A person dies. No one knows how to reach the family. The coroner’s investigators have exhausted their resources. That’s when Unclaimed Persons starts to work.”

It sounds like opening line from a forensic program on TV, but Unclaimed Persons is a real group made up of volunteers who combine their love and understanding of genealogy research with investigative research techniques to try and locate the next of kin for those who have died without any one to claim them.

These aren’t necessarily people who have not been identified; rather it’s their family – their next of kin that are unknown. Although there are also those who have used a false identity, or several, and died without their actual identity known.

So how does Unclaimed Persons (UP) work?

1) A coroner’s office will send information to Unclaimed Persons. A submission  form can be filled out on line, or the coroner’s office can provide specifics in their standard format.

2) A case manager with the UP group will assign a case number to the submission.

3) The case manager then forwards the information to a case administrator, labeling it as an “active case.”

4) A conversational thread between volunteers and readers begins. (It is these conversations that usually bring about the discovery of those elusive next of kin.)

5) Information is investigated by UP volunteers using their genealogy research techniques. A social security application may be ordered to assist with difficult cases.

6) Findings are submitted to a UP case administrator who reviews the information.

7) That administrator will then submit the findings to the case manager.

8) The case manager will prepare a report that goes to the submitting coroner’s office.

9) And hopefully, the coroner’s office will share the outcome of the case (without violating anyone’s privacy) with the Unclaimed Persons group.

If the deceased has already been interred, the next of kin will be given the option of having the remains disinterred and moved. If the body was cremated and the ashes scattered, the next of kin will be given that information.

There is no set period of time for a case to be solved. A case can be returned to the group for a second attempt if the information did not produce the necessary resolution or if the relatives express no interest in getting involved.

In the past six years, since Unclaimed Persons began, volunteers have solved hundreds of cases.

If you would like to volunteer your time and expertise in assisting to help locate "missing" family members, contact Unclaimed Persons on their Facebook page. "Every life is worth remembering."

~ Joy

Using the Internet to Identify the Dead

Cook County Medical Examiner's

 

Two weeks ago the Cook County Illinois Medical Examiner’s Office made a bold move.  The office began releasing photos of unidentified dead bodies on its webpage.  The hope is that someone might be able to ID a missing family member or friend from the photos.  But the move has sparked controversy.

Dr Steve Cina

 

The photos of decaying corpses have been called too graphic, disturbing, and insensitive. But the Cook County Medical Examiner, Dr Steve Cina, feels that it’s worth the discomfort if the photos help a family find a loved one.

An unidentified person (UP) is a person who has died and his/her body has not been identified. Once normal channels have been exhausted in trying to gain identification, a coroner or medical examiner may post a photo and information on the UP site in hopes that it triggers someone's memory, or that someone recognizes the person and can identify them.

Information about those who have not been identified can be found on the Cook County Medical Examiner’s (CCME) website under “Unidentified Persons” http://www.cookcountygov.com/portal/server.pt/community/medical_examiner,_office_of/307/unidentified_persons/735.

 

A physical description of the person including sex, race, and the clothes they were wearing, along with descriptive body features such as height, birthmarks, tattoos, or dental information can be used. Photos on the site are updated biweekly. 

All of the photos are watermarked by the Medical Examiner’s office and include a disclaimer of the ”potentially graphic nature of the images.”

But, the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office is not the first to place photos of the deceased online in an attempt to discover their identities.  In fact, the CCME worked in conjunction with the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) http://www.namus.gov to create their page.

NamUs is a searchable database funded by the National Institute of Justice and managed by the UNT Health Science Center.  It was also created in an attempt to discover whom these unidentified persons are. 

Searches can be conducted by using demographics, case numbers, physical characteristics, or other specific information. New cases are added each day by medical examiners and coroners across the U.S.

Currently, NamUs has almost 10,000 unidentified persons in their database.  Fewer than 10% of the remains have been identified and those cases closed. Just over 90% of the cases remain open. Close to two million people have visited the site since it began in 2010.

Cook County Morgue

The Cook County Medical Examiner’s office currently has several unidentified persons, some still waiting to be identified after four years. The office also has close to 50 bodies that are identified but unclaimed.

An unclaimed person (UCP) is someone whose body has been identified but no next of kin have been found, or if the family has been located, they cannot afford to pay for a funeral, or they do not want to accept responsibility for the body. In 2011, Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office began donating unclaimed remains to the Anatomical Gift Association (AGA) within two weeks after arrival there. 

Once the body is picked up, the AGA is then required to wait 21 days before embalming it and another 60 days for next of kin to be located or come forward.  If, after that time, no one has claimed the body the AGA may use the body for medical research and subsequent cremation.

The Doe Network http://www.doenetwork.org is an organization ran by volunteers that includes searchable websites for unidentified and missing persons from around the U.S.  The organization has been active for 12 years and has been recognized by the Department of Justice.

Fifteen sites are listed that deal with unidentified remains, unexplained disappearances, and missing persons. Unidentified remains may be from the US, Canada, Europe, Australia, or other countries. The network deals with hot and cold cases.

Besides Illinois, other states listed on the Doe Network are Kentucky, Iowa, New York, New Jersey, Texas, Nevada, Florida, South Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts and Tennessee. Almost four million visitors have visited the site since it began in 2001.

Although the photos may be considered disturbing, they do serve a very real purpose.  There is an estimated 40,000 remains currently unidentified in the U.S.  Sites such as these could help countless families and friends find out what happened to someone dear.

It is often said “You can judge a society by how it treats its dead.”  It is time we allow those who have remained nameless to be identified and bring some sense of closure to those lives. 

And the internet may be the most effective way for us to do this...

~ Joy