Nearly 450 law enforcement professionals from around the globe have descended on New Orleans this week for a five-day symposium dedicated to solving homicides, and among the speakers is a Kansas family still fighting nearly two decades later to turn their daughter's death into a nationwide law. The 32nd Annual Training Symposium of the International Homicide Investigators Association runs through Thursday, bringing together detectives, forensic specialists and K-9 units to trade techniques on cracking cold cases and violent crimes.
According to WDSU, symposium attendees will hear directly from Greg Smith, executive director of the Kelsey Smith Foundation, who plans to speak Monday about the importance of cell phone location data in helping investigators find missing or endangered people. Smith and his wife Missey have spent years advocating for what's become known as Kelsey's Act, named for their 18-year-old daughter who was abducted and murdered in her Kansas hometown in 2007.
The law requires cell phone carriers to immediately share a person's location with police when that person is believed to be in danger, without waiting on the delays that plagued the original investigation into Kelsey's disappearance. Per the same report, it took investigators over four days to retrieve location data on Kelsey's phone in 2007 — but once carriers cooperated, police located her body within 45 minutes.
A Law Spreading State by State, But Not Yet Everywhere
Kansas became the first state to pass the Kelsey Smith Act in April 2009, and adoption spread gradually over the following decade, with South Dakota becoming the 26th state to sign on in March 2020 and Wisconsin following in early 2024, according to the Johnson County Post. Louisiana enacted its own version on June 23, 2015, under House Bill 456, per the Louisiana State Legislature, requiring mobile carriers to disclose call location data to police during emergencies involving imminent danger. The law is now in effect in Louisiana and 30 other states, the WDSU report notes.
Ohio lawmakers introduced their own version in February 2026, drawing on recommendations from a state missing persons working group aimed at speeding up emergency cell phone location retrieval, according to the Ohio House of Representatives. At the federal level, Representative Derek Schmidt reintroduced the Kelsey Smith Act as H.R. 7752 in the 119th Congress on March 2, 2026, and it was referred to the House Judiciary Committee, according to records filed with GovInfo. Kelsey Smith's family hopes the bill will finally make the law nationwide.
Not everyone supports a federal mandate. The American Civil Liberties Union has historically opposed federal versions of the Kelsey Smith Act, arguing that requiring location disclosures without a warrant or strict judicial oversight risks violating Fourth Amendment protections, according to the ACLU. Greg Smith, for his part, has said every law enforcement agency in the United States should have cell phone location data as an investigative tool, per WDSU's reporting.
Symposium Draws Global Reach and Local Agencies Alike
The symposium includes several speakers and investigators exploring advancements in investigative technology, with participants coming from as far as Dubai alongside local agencies from Kenner. Booths on the exhibit floor highlight developments in K-9 search and rescue, digital evidence tools, and DNA testing, giving attendees a hands-on look at the tools reshaping how homicide cases get solved.
Missey Smith told WDSU that talking about her daughter is a good day, adding that conferences like this one allow families to hear stories of people recovered using cell phone technology. Symposium attendees are also purchasing $10 raffle tickets, with proceeds benefiting the Kelsey Smith Foundation, known as Kelsey's Army.
The International Homicide Investigators Association was founded on June 1, 1988, during an FBI Violent Criminal Apprehension Program conference at Quantico, Virginia, and now represents death investigation professionals across all 50 U.S. states and six continents, according to the organization's own IHIA history. The group's global footprint keeps growing — in June 2026 it appointed Detective Staff Sergeant Tanya Sampson as its inaugural Canada Region Director to expand cross-border training and collaboration among homicide investigators.
A Fitting Backdrop as New Orleans Crime Falls
The symposium is co-presented by the FBI, the New Orleans Police Department and the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office, and runs through Thursday at the New Orleans Marriott Warehouse Arts District, according to Forensic Magazine. Next year's 33rd symposium is scheduled to move to San Diego.
The conference lands in New Orleans at a notable moment for the host department. The city recorded 38 homicides through late June 2026, putting it on pace for its lowest annual murder total since 1969, according to Axios. First-quarter 2026 data from the New Orleans Police Department also showed armed robberies and carjackings falling by more than 60 percent compared to the same period in 2023.
For the Smiths, though, the week in New Orleans remains centered on one goal nearly two decades in the making: getting the law that bears their daughter's name adopted in every state and, eventually, written into federal statute.
