The DeKalb County District Attorney's Office is extending an open invitation to the community for a special event. According to their recent announcement, the Missing Persons & DNA Event will give individuals with missing loved ones an opportunity to share information, update reports, and contribute DNA samples which may help in identification efforts. Set to take place on Saturday, May 17, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., the event will be hosted at the Cochran Building in Legacy Park, in Decatur, GA.
At the event, detailed by DeKalb County District Attorney's Office, attendees will be able to make or expand upon missing person's reports with the help of local law enforcement. Further services include entering case details into national databases like NCIC and NamUs, and those interested in donating DNA should bring along two relatives from different family branches to aid the CODIS search. Event organizers have also stressed the importance of bringing photographs, medical documents, and any relevant ID documents to help to more effectively track missing individuals.
For the first time in its history, the Missing Persons & DNA Event will coincide with the Walkathon for the Missing and Exploited. The walkathon, hosted by Raymond Green International Outreach of Hope, seeks to raise awareness for missing persons and was founded by Donna Green, a mother in search of her child since a 1978 kidnapping. The event also offers hope to individuals like Green, symbolizing a collective quest for answers fortified by community and advanced technology.
The Missing Persons & DNA Event serves as a direct manifestation of the ongoing initiatives by the DeKalb County Cold Case Task Force. The task force, bolstered by a generous grant of $496,045.00 from the U.S. Department of Justice, is laboring not just to report and test, but also to ultimately return the remains of unidentified individuals back to their families. Many of these remains have laid in limbo for years, with some being exhumed from their resting places to begin a long-overdue process of identification. Those who have information on unsolved cases in the DeKalb County are encouraged to reach out confidentially to the District Attorney's Office Cold Case Tip Line.
To participate in this collective effort to bring closure to families of missing persons, registration for the event is recommended but not required, and can be done by visiting the link provided by the District Attorney's Office. Additionally, the event will furnish attendees with free genealogy kits, minus any obligation to submit DNA to law enforcement databases, and will feature informative sessions on how genetic genealogy and forensic art can contribute to solving these increasingly solvable puzzles of long-lost connections.
