SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WCIA) — A bill overhauling how police respond to a missing persons case is gaining traction in the State Capitol.
The proposed legislation mandates law enforcement to immediately accept missing persons reports, eliminating any waiting periods. Additionally, police would need to upload fingerprints and any available DNA of the missing individual to National Databases.
Senator Michael Hastings (D-Frankfort), who is backing the bill in the Senate, stated that if enacted, the bill would ensure that no missing persons case is considered closed until it’s reported and identified, preventing cases from being shelved due to a lack of leads. He believes these additional regulations will aid in returning more missing individuals to their families.
Hastings explained, “The bill ensures that first, authorities make use of fingerprints and DNA, that they report it to the National Database, and that they must submit postmortem information within seven days of discovering a body.”
Hastings worked with the Cook County Sheriff’s Office on the bill. Their office runs Missing Women’s Project, which works to locate women who have been missing for at least three years.
According to the Department of Justice’s National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, Illinois has 461 open missing persons cases, 429 open unidentified persons cases and 93 open unclaimed persons cases.
“Minorities are disproportionately affected by this. Homeless people are affected by this. All of those people have families,” Hastings said. “And they should know where their loved one is, especially if they are found.”
The bill passed the Senate with unanimous support and now heads to the House of Representatives, where it’s sponsored by Rep. Bob Rita (D-Blue Island).
