Is your family member missing? NYC Medical Examiner may be able to help
NEW YORK CITY -- The New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner will host NYC Missing Persons Day this Saturday.
The free in-person event offers confidential support and resources for family and friends of people who have been missing for at least 60 days.
The OCME will accept any voluntarily shared information, like photos and DNA samples to help identify missing people.
"If the families don't come to us and give us information and DNA samples, we're never going to make an ID," said Mark Desire, the Assistant Director of the Chief Medical Examiner's Department of Forensic Biology.
There have been more than 30 positive identifications of missing people in NYC due to the work done on Missing Persons Day since it launched in 2014.
"Makes us feel good to know we're making a difference in helping the families," said Criminalist Andrew Schweighardt.
Anyone interested in attending is strongly encouraged to make an appointment with the Medical Examiner's Office by calling 212-323-1201.
The event will be held at the Medical Examiner's office at 421 East 26th Street from 9:00 a.m. till 3:00 p.m.
If you're unable to make it to Missing Persons Day on June 25, you can call at any time to meet with staff from the Office of the Medical Examiner to discuss your missing loved one.
Even those who have loved ones who didn't go missing in New York are encouraged to attend Missing Persons Day.
The DNA lab has access to DNA of missing people and unidentified remains around the entire country.
"We can use this DNA databank to find them, no matter where they are in any of the 50 states," Desire said.
Eyewitness News Investigative Reporter Kristin Thorne has been producing a series on missing people from New York. You can watch the episodes on ABC7NY.com.
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