PROPOSED LEGISLATION:
The “Lamont Dottin’s law; relates to reporting duties with respect to missing children and adults; establishes uniform standards for searching for missing persons; expands state databanks to approach not only the problem of missing children but missing adults as well; requires police departments to establish a trained missing person specialist.

DOING SO WILL….

• Expand the criteria used to determine when to launch an immediate investigation into the whereabouts of a missing person.
• Remove the age limit and review missing person reports on a case-by-case basis and confirm to the families, who deserve to know, that their loved ones are remembered and not forgotten.
• Bridge the gaps that currently exist in the process and rob the hope from the families with missing loved.
• Eliminate the “Myths” that every missing person 21 years old is a runaway or are far more likely to have chosen to be absent themselves from their home.
• Establish a deliberate and methodical process that is proactive and transparent when it comes to searching for a missing loved one.

BACKGROUND:
La Mont Dottin disappeared from St. Albans, New York, October 16, 1995. His body was found floating in the East Harlem River six days later and buried in pauper’s grave in potter’s field. As a result of existing law, a variety of unfortunate and tragic circumstance, this was not known to his family and it was not until four years later and years of searching that they were was able to exhume his body and give him a proper burial.

HISTORY:

1. In 1983, President Ronald Reagan proclaimed May 25 as National Missing Children’s Day. Each year the Department of Justice (DOJ) commemorates Missing Children’s Day with a ceremony honoring the heroic and exemplary efforts of agencies, organizations, and individuals to protect children.
2. 1999 – Campus Safety Act Established
3. 2003 – Suzanne Law- Suzanne’s laws is a federal law concerning missing persons signed into law by President Bush as part of the national “Amber Alert”. The law provides that there shall be no waiting period before a law enforcement agency initiates an investigation of a missing person under the age of twenty one and reports the missing person to the National Crime Information Center of the Department of Justice. The bill also requires local authorities to notify the National Crime Information Center immediately if someone between the ages of 18 and 21 goes missing.