NamUs

Fingerprint Services
1,300+

Missing and unidentified person cases 

reported to NamUs have been resolved 

using fingerprints

The NamUs Fingerprint Unit

With over 50 years of combined law enforcement and forensic 

crime laboratory experience, NamUs fingerprint examiners:

 

 • Ensure the quality, completeness, and accuracy of all

 missing and unidentified person fingerprint information

 entered into NamUs.

 • Assist with the acquisition of fingerprint records, including

 fingerprint cards for past and present military personnel.

 • Perform fingerprint comparisons using

 state-of-the-art technology. 

 • Facilitate proactive searching of fingerprints through local

 and federal databases.

When fingerprints are submitted to NamUs, they are readily available

for immediate comparison that can result in a positive identification

or exclusion.

NamUs works with the National Personnel 

Records Center (NPRC) to obtain fingerprint 

cards for past and present military personnel. 

Fingerprint information obtained from the 

NPRC is uploaded to the NamUs 2.0 and CAFIS 

databases for searching against unidentified 

decedent cases.
 The NamUs CAFIS Database

The NamUs Cogent Automated Fingerprint

Identification System (CAFIS) is one of the few

systems that serves as a permanent repository

of nationwide missing and unidentified person

fingerprint records that are proactively searched.

NGI and IDENT

Through a collaboration with the Federal Bureau 

of Investigation (FBI), all unidentified decedent 

fingerprints are securely transmitted to the FBI’s 

Latent Print Support Unit for searching through 

the national Next Generation Identification

(NGI) system. If NGI searching does not result in 

an association, the fingerprint information is then 

submitted to the Department of Homeland

Security for searching through the Automated 

Biometric Identification System (IDENT). 

WHAT IS NGI?

The FBI’s Next Generation Identification (NGI) system 

harnesses new technologies to compare fingerprints 

and palm prints, in addition to other biometrics that 

include iris and facial recognition. This system replaced 

the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification 

System (IAFIS) and provides the world’s largest and most 

efficient electronic repository of biometric information to 

criminal justice agencies.

WHAT IS IDENT?

The Department of Homeland Security’s Automated 

Biometric Identification System (IDENT) stores, shares, and 

matches biometric data in a system containing more than 

200 million unique identities.
Submitting Fingerprints to NamUs

For the most accurate and complete searching, original fingerprint 

cards should be submitted to NamUs. A pre-paid shipping label 

for fingerprint card submissions will be provided upon request, and 

original fingerprint cards will be returned to the submitting agency 

once processing is complete.

ORIGINAL FINGERPRINT CARDS

SHOULD BE SHIPPED TO:

NamUs Fingerprint Unit

UNT Center for Human Identification

3500 Camp Bowie Boulevard

Fort Worth, TX 76107

In lieu of original records, scans or photographs of fingerprint cards 

can be securely transmitted to NamUs.

For best results, original fingerprint cards should be:

 • Scanned at a minimum of 500 dots per inch (DPI); or

 • Photographed at a 1:1 ratio with a scale included in the image

For a link to securely transmit fingerprint image(s) to NamUs, 

please send a request to NamUsFingerprintUnit@unthsc.edu.

Questions?

Contact the NamUs Fingerprint Unit toll-free at 1-855-626-7600

or by email at NamUsFingerprintUnit@unthsc.edu.
20-060 CHI RD

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

About NamUs

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System 

(NamUs) is a program of the National Institute of Justice, 

managed through a cooperative agreement with the UNT 

Health Science Center (UNTHSC). Operated within the UNT 

Center for Human Identification at UNTHSC, NamUs brings 

people, information, forensic science and technology together 

to resolve missing, unidentified, and unclaimed person cases 

throughout the United States. For more information, visit 

www.NamUs.gov.