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Fact Sheet – August 29, 2014

Missing Persons and Unidentified Remains is noted as “The Nation’s Silent Mass Disaster” ”(Ritter, NIJ, Issue 256).

What do you do when a love one goes missing and what do you do when thousands of love one are reported missing. YOU FIGHT BACK…being proactive and informed is paramount to the fight.

  • There are 627,911 reasons to show up and learn what you should do FIRST when a love goes missing.
  • While DCJS provides a detailed report of New York’s Missing Persons they do not however, capture the attempted missing persons reports rejected when they are between ages 21-64.
  • The National Crime International Center (NCIC) 2013 report shows 627,911 missing persons cases were reported across the United States.
  • New York State Defense Criminal Justice Services (New York Clearing House) 2013 annual report showed 20,124 missing children (18 and under) and 7,647 missing adults (18 and older) of which 748 were vulnerable adults.
  • Specifically, New York City (Bronx, Queens, King, New York, Richmond) shows 8,003 children (18 and under) were reported missing.

THE TRUTH IS:

  • According to the 2010 report, the problem is two-fold (missing persons and unidentified human remains) and noted in our nation as a crisis and “a mass disaster overtime.
  • On any given day, as many as 100,000 active missing person cases go unsolved in the United States . Medical examiners and coroners throughout the country have more than 40,000 sets of human remains that cannot be identified through conventional means.
  • The challenge to solve missing persons cases is further compounded when many cities and counties continue to bury unidentified remains without attempting to collect DNA samples especially they are not equipped to perform DNA analysis as required.
  • In New York alone a total of 352 burials was conducted as of June 5, 2014 with 2 unknown burials and 350 known. The Hart Island burials are performed by the prisoner’s work detail Tuesday through Friday each week. (see more at www.lamontdottinfoundation.org)

More Fact Links:

  1. https://www.findthemissing.org/en
  2. http://www.lamontdottinfoundation.org/assemblyman-william-scarborough-on-missing-persons-legislation/
  3. http://www.criminaljustice.ny.gov/crimnet/ojsa/mcannuals/2013-missing-persons-annual-report.pdf

Summary of Missing Person cases – August 29, 2014

LOVE HAS NO AGE LIMITS AND NEITHER SHOULD THE LAW
Introduction of The Lamont Dottin Bill A10149 and S7864 that will:

  1. Eliminates waiting period and age restriction for reporting, and allows immediate entry into the FBI database creating a repository/reference source for missing persons between ages 21-64.

Cases below demonstrates the need for “The Lamont Dottin Law” and the reform of Missing Persons to remove the age restriction rom current law:

Lamont Dottin (1995) – A freshman at Queens College who disappeared on October 16, 1995 on his way to mail a package. Because Lamont was 21 and over 18, I fought for a month to file a missing persons report with NYPD and was told “it’s not unusual for black men to walk away from home”. I spent the next four years searching for him, even hiring a private detective, to finally discover that Lamont had been found 6 days after I reported him missing and had been buried in a pauper’s grave in Potter’s Field. http://www.queenspress.com/archives/features/2000/issue28/feature.htm

Romona Moore (2003) – A bright, ambitious Hunter College student from Canarsie, Brooklyn, NY went missing April 24th. When the family called 911, they were told “She’s 21, we’re not supposed to take the report.” The family was then told to call back after Romona has been missing for 24 hours only to be told “Lady, why are you calling here? Your daughter is 21. These officers should not have taken the report in the first place.” The next day, April 26, the complaint was marked “closed. Romona was found a week later. I testified city council’s hearing convened in 2004 to expand the age criteria from 21 to 25 years old. http://www.villagevoice.com/2008-05-06/news/missing-in-action/

Tamara Blaine (2013) – A young mother and daughter of Ms.Lola Blaine, who tried to report her Tamara missing but was told “There is nothing we can do. She is 22…” had to hire a private investigator after being denied assistance by the NYPD. Ms. Blaine later discovered, after hiring a lawyer, that while she was searching for her loved one, Tamara was laying in New York’s city morgue where she had been for 30 days.

SEE MORE AT: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/woman-charged-botched-butt-lift-death-article-1.1717472

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