CT state police urge families with missing relatives to participate in DNA drive
Connecticut State Police are partnering with multiple agencies to try to help families with missing relatives get answers about their loved ones using DNA.
Connecticut residents with missing family members have been invited to participate in a DNA drive on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the University of New Haven, located at 300 Boston Post Road in West Haven. There is no cost to participate in the drive.
DNA submitted during the drive will go to the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) and will be used to help identify human remains that have been found in the state, according to Connecticut State Police. The missing persons case will also be entered into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs).
The DNA drive is a collaborative effort involving the University of New Haven, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, Connecticut State Police and the DESPP Division of Scientific Services.
“This drive is intended for families with missing loved ones who have not already submitted a DNA sample into the missing person/unidentified database of the Combined DNA Index System,” state police said in a statement.
“When unidentified human remains are found, a sample is sent to the Division of Scientific Services to be tested and then entered into CODIS,” state police continued. “If a sample from a family member has previously been entered into CODIS, it can connect — or “hit” — to the unidentified remains.”
State police noted that DNA submitted during the drive will only be used to try and identify the unidentified human remains and the missing persons samples that are currently in the DNA Database or those that will be entered in the future.
The drive is only meant for “closely related” family members of a missing person, such as parents, siblings and children.
“The closer the relationship to the missing person, the better the chance for an identification,” state police said.
Anyone with a missing relative should file a report with their local police department if they have not already done so, state police noted. Troopers at the drive will be available to take a report for families who have not filed one.
“The agencies which are collaborating on this DNA drive hope to bring some peace to families that have been missing their loved ones and give names to the unidentified,” state police said.