A Powerful Tool for Law Enforcement Officers, 

Medical Examiners and Coroners

Free. Secure.

Nationwide.

NamUs.gov

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System

offers criminal justice agencies a powerful tool for resolving 

missing, unidentified, and unclaimed person cases.
“Funded and 

administered by the 

National Institute of 

Justice, all NamUs 

resources are 

provided at no cost”

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WELCOME

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) is a program that connects criminal justice agencies and families across the nation with information 

and resources to resolve missing, unidentified, and unclaimed person cases. 

Funded and administered by the National

Institute of Justice (NIJ), NamUs resources

are provided at no cost to law enforcement,

medical examiners, coroners, allied forensic

professionals, and family members of

missing persons.

The suite of no-cost NamUs resources

includes technology, forensic and analytical 

services, investigative support, and online 

training programs.

By bringing people, information, forensic

science, and technology together, NamUs

helps resolve missing, unidentified, and

unclaimed person cases across the country,

while providing support to victims and

their families.
04-05 .............................. Overview

06 .................................... NamUs Technology

08 .................................... Regional Program Specialists

10 ..................................... Forensic Services—Fingerprints

12 ..................................... Forensic Services—DNA Analysis

14 ..................................... Forensic Services—Forensic Odontology

16 ..................................... Forensic Services—Forensic Anthropology

18 ..................................... Analytical Services

20 .................................... Research and Data

Back Page........................ Contact us

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Content
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600,000

4,400

Number of individuals that go missing in the United States every year. 

Fortunately, many missing children and adults are quickly found, alive and 

well. However, tens of thousands of individuals remain missing for more 

than one year – what many agencies consider “cold cases.” 

Estimated number of

unidentified bodies that 

are recovered each year, 

with approximately 1,000 of 

those decedents remaining 

unidentified after one year.
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The sheer volume of missing and 

unidentified person cases poses 

one of the greatest challenges to 

agencies tasked with resolving 

these important cases.

The NamUs program brings people, information, forensic science, and technology 

together to help resolve missing, unidentified, and unclaimed person cases 

across the country. It is funded and administered by the National Institute of 

Justice and managed in partnership with the UNT Health Science Center’s UNT 

Center for Human Identification through a cooperative agreement.

All NamUs services are provided at no cost. 
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Sensitive case data 

are only accessible to 

appropriate, vetted 

professional users.

NamUs Technology

he NamUs application contains a 

secure, easy-to-use, centralized 

online database that serves as a national 

clearinghouse of information related 

to missing, unidentified, and unclaimed 

person cases. 

Case management, advanced searching, 

and automatic matching tools within 

the NamUs application expedite case 

associations and resolutions. 

The NamUs database is searchable by 

anyone. However, sensitive case data are 

only accessible to appropriate, vetted 

professional users, which include medical 

examiners, coroners, law enforcement 

officers, and allied forensic professionals. 

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Regional Program 

Specialists

egional Program 

Specialists:

• Provide investigative support 

to missing, unidentified, and 

unclaimed person cases.

• Vet all professional users and 

case data to ensure the

accuracy, quality, and 

security of information 

entered into NamUs. 

• Assist with the collection of 

biometric information and 

facilitate the use of NamUs 

forensic services. 

• Provide online and classroom 

training on the NamUs application 

and resources.

• Assist with the coordination and 

implementation of Missing Person 

Day events across the country.

• Hold Department of Justice 

security clearances and are 

experienced professionals from 

the criminal justice and/or 

forensic science community.

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Fingerprints are a widely recognized and cost-effective biometric marker. They 

are a reliable means of personal identification that enable rapid comparisons. 

When submitted to NamUs, fingerprints are immediately available for 

comparisons that can result in positive identifications or exclusions. 

Fingerprints

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Forensic Services 

he NamUs Fingerprint/AFIS Unit assists with 

scanning, classifying, uploading, analyzing, 

and comparing fingerprint information submitted 

to NamUs. 

All fingerprint images provided to NamUs are 

digitized and uploaded to an internal Automated 

Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) for 

searching and comparison. All unidentified 

decedent prints are then submitted to the 

FBI’s Latent Print Unit for searching in the Next 

Generation Identification (NGI) national database. 

NamUs provides pre-paid shipping labels to submit 

fingerprint cards for processing, and all fingerprint 

cards will be returned to the submitting agency 

after upload to NamUs. 

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Forensic Services 

IJ, through the NamUs program, provides funding and 

support for the UNT Center for Human Identification’s 

(UNTCHI’s) Missing Persons Unit to perform nuclear DNA 

testing, including Y-STR, and mitochondrial DNA analyses for 

missing and unidentified persons cases from around the country. 

UNTCHI is a recognized ISO accredited CODIS laboratory, and 

one of a small number of laboratories capable of developing and 

uploading mitochondrial DNA profiles to CODIS. 

N

DNA Analyses

Nuclear VS mtDNA

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is found in the cell’s mitochondria 

and contains genetic material inherited from the maternal lineage. 

mtDNA is an important forensic tool, especially when first-order 

relatives are not available for a missing person, or nuclear DNA 

profiles cannot be obtained from unidentified remains. 

Nuclear DNA is found in the cell’s nucleus and can be used to 

develop STR and Y-STR profiles for the identification of human 

remains. STR profiles are developed from genetic material 

contributed by both parents, while Y-STR profiles are developed 

from genetic material inherited only from the paternal lineage.
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Law enforcement, medical examiners, and coroners rely on dental records to 

establish legal and verifiable identifications of missing and unidentified persons. 

Dental records provide an opportunity to make rapid, cost-effective, detailed 

comparisons between individuals for inclusions or exclusions of potential matches. 

Forensic Odontology

Forensic Services 

gencies can directly upload dental

 information for missing and unidentified 

person cases to NamUs, which is a secure, central 

repository. NamUs forensic odontologists also 

can be contacted to digitally scan, code, and 

upload information to NamUs cases on behalf 

of investigating agencies. All dental information 

uploaded to NamUs is available for 24/7 

professional comparisons. 

NamUs odontologists also complete NCIC dental 

worksheets that allow agencies to upload accurate 

and complete dental information to NCIC. 

NamUs provides pre-paid shipping labels to submit 

dental information for processing, and all records 

will be returned to the submitting agency after 

upload to NamUs. 

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Forensic Anthropology

Forensic Services 

IJ, through the NamUs program, provides 

funding and support for UNTCHI’s Forensic 

Anthropology Unit to provide the following analyses of 

skeletal remains to investigating agencies:

• Distinguishing historical/archaeological remains from 

modern remains.

• Development of biological profiles – such as 

sex, ancestry, stature, and age – to aid searches 

for possible matches.

• Identifications of skeletal remains based on 

comparisons of medical and radiographic 

information.

• Trauma analysis to contribute to cause and 

manner of death determinations.

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NamUs analytical 

services help 

resolve missing, 

unidentified,

and unclaimed

person cases.

Analytical Services 

he NamUs Analytical Division utilizes 

nongovernmental criminal justice 

databases and advanced search techniques 

to provide criminal justice agencies with:

• Indication of life for persons reported 

missing to NamUs.

• Contact information for family 

members for DNA sample collections.

• Information regarding next of kin for 

death notifications.

• Leads related to unidentified 

person cases.

• Information to assist in vetting tips 

and leads.

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Data Information Knowledge Wisdom

Research and Data 

By transforming data into actionable intelligence and knowledge, data analytics 

advances research, development, and evaluation efforts to address the challenges 

faced by the communities NamUs serves. NamUs data analytics projects identify 

meaningful patterns in case data to develop new outreach and awareness initiatives, 

best practices, and additional tools and resources for NamUs stakeholders. 

Data Analytics

The NamUs Research and Evaluation Division develops and implements research 

projects that utilize NamUs, external data sources, and primary data collection 

to better understand missing, unidentified, and unclaimed person issues and 

develop system improvements. Research focuses on specific issues, such as 

indicators of violence in missing and unidentified person cases, as well as specific 

missing person populations. 

Research and Evaluation 
For questions or further assistance, contact

NamUs toll-free at 1-855-626-7600.

NamUs is funded and administered by the National 

Institute of Justice and managed in partnership with the 

UNT Health Science Center’s UNT Center for Human 

Identification through a cooperative agreement.

To enter a case or access any of the free resources available through 

NamUs, register at NamUs.gov. 

Once registered, a user-friendly case entry form is just one click away.

The NamUs program is funded through the National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice 

Programs, U.S. Department of Justice Award No. 2016-MU-BX-K007. The opinions, 

findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of 

the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of Justice.

CENTER FOR HUMAN IDENTIFICATION

Register and enter 

cases into NamUs:

20-013_CHI_RD