Project LINK (Linking Individuals Not Known) — in which DNA samples from family members of missing people are compared to DNA samples from human remains in an attempt to find a match — is part sleuthing and part science.
To date, 60 cases have been solved through the program established in 1999 by the Ohio Attorney General’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI). The program is free to police, coroners and families of missing individuals.
Anyone seeking help finding a missing person may call BCI at 855-BCI-OHIO.
The sleuthing
BCI Criminal Intelligence Analyst Lisa Savage said it doesn’t matter if a lot of time has passed since the person disappeared, but to be eligible for Project LINK, the person has to have been missing at least 30 days.
“We had a recent call about a person missing since 1995. The family just assumed the subject was deceased and there was nothing more they could do.”
When those calls come in, Savage and others in the Criminal Intelligence Unit gather information and photos from the family. Next, analysts use databases to run searches.
BCI Criminal Intelligence Analyst Jenni Lester said they often get leads through the Ohio Attorney General’s website (
www.OhioAttorneyGeneral.gov).
“We have a ‘missing persons’ mailbox on the Attorney General’s website where we get tips from the public. We also get tips from NamUs (National Missing and Unidentified Persons System). They’ll say, ‘I think this John Doe is John Smith,’ and we’ll follow up on it.”
If evidence seems to point to a living person, police will visit and see if the person is well or if it’s a case of identity theft.
If the initial BCI search doesn’t close the case, family members are asked to submit DNA via a mouth swab. BCI sends the swab to the the Center for Human Identification at the University of North Texas (UNT), which has a lab that does mitochondrial forensic DNA analysis. It enters the resulting profiles into a database for comparison to Ohio’s Project LINK entries and to the national Combined DNA Index System (CODIS).
If a match is found, the Texas lab sends a report to BCI. If the match is confirmed, BCI contacts law enforcement to break the news to the family.
The science
The BCI lab plays an intermediate yet pivotal role in Project LINK. Coroners are required by law to forward to BCI fingerprints and DNA samples for remains that have gone unidentified for more than 30 days.
In cases where human remains are found and all other means of identifying the decedent have failed, the scientists at BCI do a direct comparison of the nuclear DNA, said Diane Gehres, the BCI CODIS laboratory manager and state CODIS administrator. But when the identification is in doubt or the remains are degraded, the scientists at BCI submit samples to UNT for mitochondrial and nuclear DNA testing.
Bobbie-Jo Kennedy, a forensic scientist at BCI, said her role is to help law enforcement with the process of dealing with unidentified human remains.
“We’ll help them decide which samples are the best ones to be submitted, and also which ones to retain,” she said. “They send the samples here, and I make sure it’s packaged correctly and labeled correctly, and I fill out all the paperwork for them.”
“That’s a huge bonus for law enforcement not to have to fill out some paperwork they’ve never seen before, to figure out a family tree, to figure out what sample needs to be sent,” Gehres said. “We want to make the process as easy as possible for them.”
If a match occurs, the Texas lab sends an email to BCI, and the law enforcement agency that submitted the remains is contacted. Once the match is confirmed, the family is notified. If it’s not a match, the DNA profiles stay in the database to be checked against new samples on a regular basis in hopes of someday making a connection.
By the numbers (Unidentified Human Remains)
49 – Unidentified Human Remains cases submitted to BCI for Project LINK
14 – Number of cases solved by CODIS hit or direct DNA comparison (Note: While 14 cases were solved, only 13 people were identified because two cases ended up being remains from one person.)
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By the numbers (Missing Persons)
150 – Number of missing persons cases submitted to BCI for Project LINK
14 – Number of people found alive during investigation
11 – Number of cases solved by CODIS hit or direct DNA comparison
21 – Identification made by dental records or unknown method through another agency
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Total numbers (Remains & Missing Persons)
199 – Total number of LINK cases opened at BCI
60 – Number of closed cases
139 – Active LINK cases
* As of Sept. 16, 2015
To find out more
The Ohio Attorney General’s Office maintains Web pages devoted to Ohio missing persons and unidentified human remains.
To read about, see photos of, or offer tips about missing persons, visit:
www.OhioAttorneyGeneral.gov/Ohio-Missing-Persons
To read about, see likenesses of, or offer tips about unidentified human remains, visit:
www.OhioAttorneyGeneral.gov/UnidentifiedRemains
For help finding a missing person, file a report with the local police and call 855-BCI-OHIO.