A better cold-case database

By Jeff Carlton

DNA group with missing posters
 
A UNT Health Science Center team has upgraded and enhanced a national database for cold cases involving missing people and unidentified remains to offer more powerful investigative tools for criminal justice agencies and families searching for their loved ones.

Called NamUs 2.0, the improved website:

  • allows users access to all cases types and tools from a single dashboard
  • increases the likelihood of resolving cases through an updated case matching algorithm
  • provides faster and more complex search capabilities
  • improves mapping capabilities through precise satellite imagery
  • enhances overall system performance and response speed.

NamUs, or the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, is a clearinghouse and resource center for missing person cases, unidentified bodies, unidentified living individuals and unclaimed bodies. Based at UNT Health Science Center since 2011, it is managed by the UNT Center for Human Identification through a cooperative agreement with the National Institute of Justice.

NamUs 2.0 replaces the existing NamUs databases, which were launched in 2007 and 2008.  Since then, NamUs has received more than 15,000 unidentified person cases and over 32,000 missing person cases. More than 3,000 of those unidentified person cases and more than 14,000 missing person cases have been resolved.

What makes NamUs unique is it allows access to the general public in addition to criminal justice personnel. Families and Internet sleuths have assisted in solving cases that had long gone cold.

“It’s a one-of-a-kind system,” said B.J. Spamer, Director of Forensic and Analytical Services for NamUs. “We have had tips from the public that have helped us close cases. And the improvements to the software and website will make our databases more effective and user-friendly.”

In addition to the databases, NamUs provides access to forensic services, training, and analytical and investigative support to criminal justice agencies tasked with locating missing persons and identifying remains. All NamUs resources are provided at no cost to law enforcement, medical examiners, coroners, allied forensic professionals, and family members of missing persons.

The release of NamUs 2.0 is the culmination of a software upgrade project guided by the National Institute of Justice; Lynley Dungan, Chief Information Officer at UNTHSC; and NamUs program leadership at UNTHSC.

“While the hard work has taken place over the last two years, we began planning for this project in 2013,” Dungan said. “It’s been a true example of teamwork among UNTHSC, NamUs and the National Institute of Justice.”


NamUs in action

For 30 years, Francine Frost’s family searched for answers. Then the NamUs program helped find some answers. Read more…

Recent News

Dr. Wagner
  • Our People
|Mar 18, 2024

March 2024 marks significant honors for SPH faculty member, Dr. Teresa Wagner

March 2024 has been a significant month for Dr. Teresa Wagner, associate professor of health administration and policy at The University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth’s School of Public Health. During the National Academies of Practice annual meeting in Jacksonville, Florida,...
Ceph Thumbnail Image001
  • Our People
|Mar 13, 2024

SPH achieves maximum reaccreditation term from the Council on Education for Public Health

The School of Public Health at The University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth has received reaccreditation for the maximum seven-year term by the Council on Education for Public Health. HSC’s School of Public Health is one of only four CEPH-accredited public health schools in Te...
5435c06e 59bf 4fd4 9937 3c1033768b56 Original
  • Our People
|Mar 11, 2024

A new country and a new home, how a TCOM student came to America with the help of his parents

It was a revolutionary time in Egypt in early 2011, the streets filled with millions of protesters while there were violent clashes between civilians and security forces. The parents of Johny Morkos weren’t looking to leave their home in Egypt; they were a hard-working middle-class family. If an o...
Bart Gill 2022 12 15 Headshot Barton Gill
  • Our People
|Mar 8, 2024

SPH names Barton Gill, MHA, as new Health Administration & Health Policy department chair

Barton Gill, MHA, has been named as the new chair of Health Administration & Health Policy at The University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth’s School of Public Health. Gill brings more than two decades of executive experience in the health care industry to his new position, ...