II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5029 

To authorize funding for, and increase accessibility to, the National Missing 

and Unidentified Persons System, to facilitate data sharing between 

such system and the National Crime Information Center database of 

the Federal Bureau of Investigation, to provide incentive grants to help 

facilitate reporting to such systems, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 29, 2022 

Mr. MURPHY (for himself, Mr. CORNYN, Mr. TILLIS, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, and 

Mr. HOEVEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To authorize funding for, and increase accessibility to, the 

National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, to 

facilitate data sharing between such system and the National Crime Information Center database of the Federal 

Bureau of Investigation, to provide incentive grants to 

help facilitate reporting to such systems, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as ‘‘Billy’s Law’’ or the ‘‘Help 

3 Find the Missing Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF THE NATIONAL MISSING AND 

5 UNIDENTIFIED PERSONS SYSTEM. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General, shall main7 tain the ‘‘National Missing and Unidentified Persons Sys8 tem’’ or ‘‘NamUs’’, consistent with the following: 

9 (1) The NamUs shall be a national information 

10 clearinghouse and resource center for missing, un11 identified, and unclaimed person cases across the 

12 United States administered by the National Institute 

13 of Justice and managed through an agreement with 

14 an eligible entity. 

15 (2) The NamUs shall coordinate or provide— 

16 (A) online database technology which 

17 serves as a national information clearinghouse 

18 to help expedite case associations and resolu19 tions; 

20 (B) various free-of-charge forensic services 

21 to aid in the identification of missing persons 

22 and unidentified remains; 

23 (C) investigative support for criminal jus24 tice efforts to help missing and unidentified 

25 person case resolutions; 


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1 (D) technical assistance for family mem2 bers of missing persons; 

3 (E) assistance and training by coordi4 nating State and local service providers in order 

5 to support individuals and families impacted by 

6 the loss or disappearance of a loved one; and 

7 (F) training and outreach from NamUs 

8 subject matter experts, including assistance 

9 with planning and facilitating Missing Person 

10 Day events across the country. 

11 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

12 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section not 

13 more than a total of $7,000,000 for each of the fiscal 

14 years 2023 through 2028. 

15 (c) PERMISSIBLE USE OF FUNDS.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The permissible use of funds 

17 awarded under this section for the implementation 

18 and maintenance of the agreement created in sub19 paragraph (a)(1) include the use of funds— 

20 (A) to hire additional personnel to provide 

21 case support and perform other core NamUs 

22 functions; 

23 (B) to develop new technologies to facili24 tate timely data entry into the relevant data 

25 bases; 


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1 (C) to conduct contracting activities rel2 evant to core NamUs services; 

3 (D) to provide forensic analyses to support 

4 the identification of missing and unidentified 

5 persons, to include, but not limited to DNA 

6 typing, forensic odontology, fingerprint exam7 ination, and forensic anthropology; 

8 (E) to train State, local, and Tribal law 

9 enforcement personnel and forensic medicine 

10 service providers to use NamUs resources and 

11 best practices for the investigation of missing 

12 and unidentified person cases; 

13 (F) to assist States in providing informa14 tion to the NCIC database, the NamUs data15 base, or any future database system for miss16 ing, unidentified, and unclaimed person cases; 

17 (G) to report to law enforcement authori18 ties in the jurisdiction in which the remains 

19 were found information on every deceased, un20 identified person, regardless of age; 

21 (H) to participate in Missing Person Days 

22 and other events to directly support family 

23 members of the missing with NamUs case en24 tries and DNA collections; 


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1 (I) to provide assistance and training by 

2 coordinating State and local service providers in 

3 order to support individuals and families; 

4 (J) to conduct data analytics and research 

5 projects for the purpose of enhancing knowl6 edge, best practices, and training related to 

7 missing and unidentified person cases, as well 

8 as developing NamUs system enhancements; 

9 (K) to create and maintain a secure, on10 line, nationwide critical incident response tool 

11 for professionals that will connect law enforce12 ment, medico-legal and emergency management 

13 professionals, as well as victims and families 

14 during a critical incident; and 

15 (L) for other purposes consistent with the 

16 goals of this section. 

17 (d) AMENDMENTS TO THE CRIME CONTROL ACT OF

18 1990 TO REQUIRE REPORTS OF MISSING CHILDREN TO

19 NAMUS.— 

20 (1) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—Section 

21 3701(a) of the Crime Control Act of 1990 (34 

22 U.S.C. 41307(a)) is amended by striking the period 

23 and inserting the following: ‘‘and, consistent with 

24 section 3 (including rules promulgated pursuant to 

25 section 3(c)) of the Help Find the Missing Act, shall 


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1 also report such case, either directly or through au2 thorization described in such section to transmit, 

3 enter, or share information on such case, to the 

4 NamUs databases.’’. 

5 (2) STATE REQUIREMENTS.—Section 3702 of 

6 the Crime Control Act of 1990 (34 U.S.C. 41308) 

7 is amended— 

8 (A) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘or the 

9 National Crime Information Center computer 

10 database’’ and inserting ‘‘, the National Crime 

11 Information Center computer database, or the 

12 NamUs databases’’; 

13 (B) in the matter following paragraph (3), 

14 by striking ‘‘and the National Crime Informa15 tion Center computer networks’’ and inserting 

16 ‘‘, the National Crime Information Center com17 puter networks, and the NamUs databases’’; 

18 and 

19 (C) in paragraph (4)— 

20 (i) in the matter preceding subpara21 graph (A), by inserting ‘‘or the NamUs 

22 databases’’ after ‘‘National Crime Informa23 tion Center’’; and 

24 (ii) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

25 ‘‘and National Crime Information Center 


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1 computer networks’’ and inserting ‘‘, Na2 tional Crime Information Center computer 

3 networks, and the NamUs databases’’. 

4 (3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

5 by this subsection shall apply with respect to reports 

6 made before, on, or after the date of enactment of 

7 this Act. 

8 SEC. 3. INFORMATION SHARING. 

9 (a) ACCESS TO NCIC.—Not later than 1 year after 

10 the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General 

11 shall, in accordance with this section, provide access to 

12 the NCIC Missing Person and Unidentified Person Files 

13 to the National Institute of Justice or its designee admin14 istering the NamUs program as a grantee or contractor, 

15 for the purpose of reviewing missing and unidentified per16 son records in NCIC for case validation and NamUs data 

17 reconciliation. 

18 (b) ELECTRONIC DATA SHARING.—Not later than 6 

19 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attor20 ney General shall, in accordance with this section, have 

21 completed an assessment of the NCIC and NamUs system 

22 architectures and governing statutes, policies, and proce23 dures and provide a proposed plan for the secure and auto24 matic data transmission of missing and unidentified per25 son records that are reported to and entered into the 


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1 NCIC database, with the following criteria, to be electroni2 cally transmitted to the NamUs system. 

3 (1) Missing Person cases with an MNP (Miss4 ing Person) code of CA (Child Abduction) or AA 

5 (Amber Alert) within 72 hours of entry into NCIC; 

6 (2) Missing Person cases with an MNP code 

7 EME (Endangered) or EMI (Involuntary) within 30 

8 days of entry into NCIC; 

9 (3) All other Missing Person cases that have 

10 been active (non-cancelled) in NCIC for 180 days; 

11 (4) Unidentified person cases that have been 

12 active (non-cancelled) in NCIC for 60 days; 

13 (5) Once case data are transmitted to NamUs, 

14 cases are marked as such within NCIC, and any up15 dates to such cases will be transmitted to NamUs 

16 within 24 hours. 

17 (c) RULES ON CONFIDENTIALITY.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

19 the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney Gen20 eral, in consultation with the Director of the FBI, 

21 shall promulgate rules pursuant to notice and com22 ment that specify the information the Attorney Gen23 eral may allow NamUs to access from the NCIC 

24 Missing Person and Unidentified Person files or be 

25 transmitted from the NCIC database to the NamUs 


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1 databases for purposes of this Act. Such rules 

2 shall— 

3 (A) provide for the protection of confiden4 tial, private, and law enforcement sensitive in5 formation contained in the NCIC Missing Per6 son and Unidentified Person files; and 

7 (B) specify the circumstances in which ac8 cess to portions of information in the Missing 

9 Person and Unidentified Person files may be 

10 withheld from the NamUs databases. 

11 SEC. 4. INCENTIVE GRANTS PROGRAM. 

12 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall 

14 establish a program to provide grants to qualifying 

15 law enforcement agencies, forensic medicine service 

16 providers, forensic science service providers, and 

17 other authorized agencies to facilitate the process of 

18 reporting information regarding missing persons and 

19 unidentified remains to the NCIC database and 

20 NamUs databases for purposes of assisting in locat21 ing such missing persons and identifying such re22 mains. 

23 (2) CERTIFICATION.—A statewide agency ap24 plying for a grant under this section shall certify 

25 that the agency will assist other State, local, and 


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1 Tribal agencies in that State and, upon request, pro2 vide information required under subsection (b) in 

3 the format and within the timeframe under that sub4 section. No applicant may receive a grant in an 

5 amount greater than what the Attorney General de6 termines necessary to perform its statewide respon7 sibilities under this section. 

8 (b) REQUIREMENTS.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—As a condition of a grant 

10 under this section, a grant recipient shall, with re11 spect to each case reported to the agency or office 

12 of the recipient relating to a missing person de13 scribed in a category under subsection (e) or relating 

14 to unidentified remains— 

15 (A) not later than 72 hours after such case 

16 is reported to the agency or office and con17 sistent with subsection (c), submit to the NCIC 

18 database and NamUs databases— 

19 (i) in the case of a missing person de20 scribed in a category under subsection (e), 

21 at least the minimum information de22 scribed in subsection (f)(1); and 

23 (ii) in the case of unidentified re24 mains, at least the minimum information 

25 described in subsection (f)(2); 


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1 (B) not later than 60 days after the origi2 nal entry of the report, verify and update any 

3 original report entered into the State law en4 forcement system, the NCIC database, or 

5 NamUs databases after receipt of the grant 

6 with any additional information, including, to 

7 the greatest extent possible— 

8 (i) information on DNA profiles that 

9 have been uploaded to the National DNA 

10 Index System under subparagraph (E); 

11 (ii) fingerprints, medical and dental 

12 records, and photographs of any distin13 guishing characteristics such as scars, 

14 marks, tattoos, piercings, and other unique 

15 physical characteristics; 

16 (iii) in the case of unidentified re17 mains, photographs or digital images that 

18 may assist in identifying the decedent, in19 cluding fingerprint cards, radiographs, 

20 palmprints, and distinctive features of the 

21 decedent’s personal effects; and 

22 (iv) any other information determined 

23 to be appropriate by the Attorney General; 

24 and 


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1 (C) not later than 180 days after such case 

2 is reported to the agency office and consistent 

3 with subsection (c), submit to the NamUs data4 base 

5 (i) in the case of a missing person de6 scribed in category under subsection (e), at 

7 least the minimum information described 

8 in subsection (f)(1); and 

9 (ii) in the case of unidentified re10 mains, at least the minimum information 

11 described in subsection (f)(2); 

12 (D) not later than 30 days after entry into 

13 the NamUs database after receipt of the grant 

14 with any additional information, including, to 

15 the greatest extent possible— 

16 (i) information on DNA profiles that 

17 have been uploaded to National DNA 

18 Index Systems under subparagraph (C); 

19 (ii) fingerprints, medical dental 

20 records, and photographs of any distin21 guishing characteristics such as scars, 

22 marks, tattoos, piercings, and other unique 

23 physical characteristics; 

24 (iii) in the case of unidentified re25 mains, photographs or digital images that 


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1 may assist in identifying the decedent, in2 cluding fingerprint cards, radiographs, 

3 palmprints, and distinctive features of the 

4 decedent’s personal effects; and 

5 (iv) any other information determined 

6 to be appropriate by the Attorney General; 

7 and 

8 (E) not later than 60 days after the origi9 nal entry of the report, to the greatest extent 

10 possible, submit to the National DNA Index 

11 System of the FBI, established pursuant to sec12 tion 210304 of the Violent Crime Control and 

13 Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 

14 12592), either directly or through use of 

15 NamUs victims assistance resources and DNA 

16 collection services, DNA samples and informa17 tion relating to such case. 

18 (2) SHARING OF INFORMATION.—For purposes 

19 of subparagraph (B), in the case of information a 

20 grant recipient authorizes to be transferred, entered, 

21 or shared under section 3 between the NCIC data22 base and NamUs databases, any update to such in23 formation shall be made with respect to both data24 bases unless specified otherwise by the recipient. 


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1 (c) SUBMISSION OF REPORTS.—To satisfy subsection 

2 (b)(1)(A), a recipient of a grant under this section shall 

3 submit information required under such subsection to the 

4 NCIC database. 

5 (d) CLARIFICATION.—In no case may a recipient of 

6 a grant under this section use funds to enter or help facili7 tate the entrance of any false or misleading information 

8 about missing persons or unidentified remains. 

9 (e) CATEGORIES OF MISSING PERSONS.—The cat10 egories of missing persons described in this subsection are 

11 the following: 

12 (1) A missing person age 18 or older who— 

13 (A) is senile or is suffering from a proven 

14 mental or physical disability, as documented by 

15 a source deemed credible to an appropriate law 

16 enforcement entity; or 

17 (B) is missing under circumstances that 

18 indicate, as determined by an appropriate law 

19 enforcement entity— 

20 (i) that the person’s physical safety 

21 may be endangered; 

22 (ii) that the disappearance may not 

23 have been voluntary, such as abduction or 

24 kidnapping; or 


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1 (iii) that the disappearance may have 

2 been caused by a natural disaster or catas3 trophe (such as an airplane crash or ter4 rorist attack). 

5 (2) A missing person who does not meet the cri6 teria described in paragraph (1) but who meets one 

7 of the following criteria: 

8 (A) There is a reasonable concern, as de9 termined by an appropriate law enforcement en10 tity, for the safety of the missing person. 

11 (B) The person is under age 21 and eman12 cipated under the laws of the person’s State of 

13 residence. 

14 (f) MINIMUM INFORMATION REQUIRED.— 

15 (1) CONTENT FOR MISSING PERSONS.—The 

16 minimum information described in this section, with 

17 respect to a missing person, is the following: 

18 (A) The full name, date of birth, gender or 

19 biological sex, race or ethnicity, height, weight, 

20 eye color, and hair color of the missing person. 

21 (B) If the missing person is American In22 dian or Alaska Native, any Tribal enrollment or 

23 affiliation information, or if the missing person 

24 is Native Hawaiian, the Native Hawaiian orga25 nization. 


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1 (C) The date and location of the last 

2 known contact with the missing person, includ3 ing the city, county, and State where the person 

4 went missing. 

5 (D) If the missing person was last seen on 

6 Tribal or Native Hawaiian land under the juris7 diction of the United States. 

8 (E) The category described in subsection 

9 (e) in which the missing person is classified. 

10 (F) Circumstances of the disappearance. 

11 (G) The law enforcement agency inves12 tigating the case, to include any name, case 

13 number, assigned investigator, and contact in14 formation. 

15 (2) CONTENT FOR UNIDENTIFIED HUMAN RE16 MAINS.—The minimum information described in this 

17 section, with respect to unidentified human remains, 

18 is the following: 

19 (A) If possible, the estimated age, gender 

20 or biological sex, race or ethnicity, height, 

21 weight, hair color, and eye color. 

22 (B) If possible, any distinguishing charac23 teristics such as scars, marks, tattoos, 

24 piercings, and other unique physical character25 istics. 


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1 (C) If possible, a description of clothing 

2 found on the decedent. 

3 (D) The city, county, or other locality and 

4 the State where the unidentified human re5 mains were found. 

6 (E) If the remains were found on Tribal or 

7 Hawaiian Native land under the jurisdiction of 

8 the United States. 

9 (F) The forensic medicine service provider 

10 or Justice of the Peace with primary jurisdic11 tion and legal authority over the remains. 

12 (G) The name of the lead law enforcement 

13 agency investigating the case, to include agency 

14 name, case number, assigned investigator, and 

15 contact information. 

16 (H) Information on the extent to which 

17 DNA samples are available, including the avail18 ability of such samples submitted to the Na19 tional DNA Index System under subsection 

20 (b)(1)(C). 

21 (g) ADMINISTRATION.—The Attorney General shall 

22 prescribe requirements, including with respect to applica23 tions, for grants awarded under this section and shall de24 termine the amount of each such grant. 


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1 (h) CONFIDENTIALITY.—As a condition of a grant 

2 under this section, the recipient of the grant shall ensure 

3 that information reported under the grant meets the re4 quirements promulgated by the Attorney General under 

5 section 3(c)(1)(A). 

6 (i) ANNUAL SUMMARY.—For each of the fiscal years 

7 2023 through 2027, the Attorney General shall publish 

8 an annual statistical summary of the reports required by 

9 subsection (c). 

10 (j) FUNDING.— 

11 (1) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—The Attorney 

12 General may not make a grant under subsection (a) 

13 unless the applicant involved agrees, with respect to 

14 the costs to be incurred by the applicant in carrying 

15 out the purposes described in this section, to make 

16 available non-Federal contributions (in cash or in 

17 kind) toward such costs in an amount equal to not 

18 less than $1 for each $2 of Federal funds provided 

19 in the grant. 

20 (2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

21 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

22 this section $8,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 

23 2023 through 2027. 


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1 SEC. 5. REPORT ON BEST PRACTICES. 

2 Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment 

3 of this Act, the Attorney General shall issue a report to 

4 offices of forensic medicine service providers, and Federal, 

5 State, local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies describ6 ing the best practices for the collection, reporting, and 

7 analysis of data and information on missing persons and 

8 unidentified human remains. Such best practices shall— 

9 (1) provide an overview of the NCIC database 

10 and NamUs databases; 

11 (2) describe how local law enforcement agen12 cies, and offices of forensic medicine service pro13 viders should access and use the NCIC database and 

14 NamUs databases; 

15 (3) describe the appropriate and inappropriate 

16 uses of the NCIC database and NamUs databases; 

17 and 

18 (4) describe the standards and protocols for the 

19 collection, reporting, and analysis of data and infor20 mation on missing persons and unidentified human 

21 remains. 

22 SEC. 6. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

24 date of the enactment of this Act and biennially thereafter, 

25 the Attorney General shall submit to the Committee on 

26 the Judiciary of the House of Representatives and the 


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1 Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate a report de2 scribing the status of the NCIC database and NamUs 

3 databases. 

4 (b) CONTENTS.—The report required by subsection 

5 (a) shall describe, to the extent available, information 

6 on— 

7 (1) the process of information sharing between 

8 the NCIC database and NamUs databases; and 

9 (2) the programs funded by grants awarded 

10 under section 4. 

11 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 

12 In this Act: 

13 (1) AUTHORIZED AGENCY.—The term ‘‘author14 ized agency’’ means a Government agency with an 

15 originating agency identification (ORI) number and 

16 that is a criminal justice agency, as defined in sec17 tion 20.3 of title 28, Code of Federal Regulations. 

18 (2) FBI.—The term ‘‘FBI’’ means the Federal 

19 Bureau of Investigation. 

20 (3) FORENSIC MEDICINE SERVICE PROVIDER.— 

21 The term ‘‘forensic medicine service provider’’ means 

22 a State or unit of local government forensic medicine 

23 service provider having not fewer than 1 part-time 

24 or full-time employed forensic pathologist, or foren25 sic pathologist under contract, who conducts 


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1 medicolegal death investigations, including examina2 tions of human remains, and who provides reports or 

3 opinion testimony with respect to such activity in 

4 courts of law within the United States. 

5 (4) FORENSIC SCIENCE SERVICE PROVIDER.— 

6 The term ‘‘forensic science service provider’’ means 

7 a State or unit of local government agency having 

8 not fewer than 1 full-time analyst who examines 

9 physical evidence in criminal or investigative matters 

10 and provides reports or opinion testimony with re11 spect to such evidence in courts in the United 

12 States. 

13 (5) NAMUS DATABASES.—The term ‘‘NamUs 

14 databases’’ means the National Missing and Uniden15 tified Persons System Missing Persons database and 

16 National Missing and Unidentified Persons System 

17 Unidentified Decedents database maintained by the 

18 National Institute of Justice of the Department of 

19 Justice, which serves as a clearinghouse and re20 source center for missing, unidentified, and un21 claimed person cases. 

22 (6) NCIC DATABASE.—The term ‘‘NCIC data23 base’’ means the National Crime Information Center 

24 Missing Person File and National Crime Informa25 tion Center Unidentified Person File of the National 


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1 Crime Information Center database of the FBI, es2 tablished pursuant to section 534 of title 28, United 

3 States Code. 

4 (7) QUALIFYING LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY

5 DEFINED.—The term ‘‘qualifying law enforcement 

6 agency’’ means a State, local, or Tribal law enforce7 ment agency. 

8 (8) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means any 

9 State of the United States, the District of Columbia, 

10 the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Is11 lands, American Samoa, Guam, and the Common12 wealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. 

Æ 


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