(COLUMBUS, Ohio)— Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine announced today that the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation's (BCI) Missing Persons Unit is now available to create age-progression photographs in missing persons cases to assist local law enforcement in their investigations.
Attorney General DeWine and the Parma Police Department today issued a public bulletin with the first age-progression image created by BCI's forensic artist. The photograph was created to draw more attention to the missing persons case of Elaine Johnson, who disappeared from Parma in 1990.
"By creating age-progression photographs, the goal is to bring older missing persons cases back into the public eye to generate new tips on a person's whereabouts or disappearance," said Attorney General DeWine. "The hope is that someone will recognize a photo, and we'll find that missing person safe and sound, but if foul play is involved, we hope the new attention to these cases will convince those with information that it is time to come forward."
Johnson, who was 41 at the time of her disappearance, was last known to be at her residence in the 5900 block of Stumph Road on November 22, 1990. Her money, credit cards, and identification were found inside of her apartment, but her keys were missing. Her car was found in the apartment complex's parking lot, and her clothing items were in the complex's laundry room where her storage locker was open.
Elaine Johnson would be 68 years old today.
The public bulletin issued by the Attorney General's Bureau of Criminal Investigation and Parma Police Department can be found
here.
Anyone with information on Elaine Johnson's disappearance or whereabouts should contact the Parma Police Department at 440-885-1234 or Det. Joseph Duganier at 440-887-7337.
The BCI Missing Persons Unit was created to assist local law enforcement in missing persons cases. There are currently nearly 1,100 people listed as missing in the Attorney General's Missing Persons Database.
In addition to age-progression photographs, BCI's forensic artist is available to assist local law enforcement with the creation of forensic facial reconstruction models to help identify unidentified skeletal remains. A Greene County Jane Doe was identified as a Florida woman following BCI's creation of a clay model in December 2016. A Jane Doe reconstruction and John Doe reconstruction were created for two separate, still-unidentified decedents in Marion County earlier this year, and the clay model of a John Doe in an unsolved Akron investigation was created in July.
Missing Persons Unit analysts can also provide case review, investigative assistance, link charts, and mapping.
BCI also offers the Ohio LINK (Linking Individuals Not Known) Program, a free service to police, coroners, and families of missing individuals. The LINK Program was established through the Attorney General's Office in 1999 to help match DNA taken from family members of missing individuals to DNA from unidentified remains. Samples of DNA submitted by family members as part of the LINK Program are compared only to DNA samples of unidentified remains submitted through similar programs nationwide. There are currently 194 open cases in the Ohio LINK database.
Law enforcement officials or family members of missing persons interested in learning more about the services BCI's Missing Persons Unit provides should call 855-BCI-OHIO (855-224-6446).
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Media Contacts:
Dan Tierney: 614-466-3840
Jill Del Greco: 614-466-3840