California's missing person response program set to expand

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(The Center Square) - California law is set to expand the use of the California Department of Justice’s Missing Person’s DNA Program to aid in the search for all unidentified persons, both living and deceased. 

Existing law requires the DOJ to develop a DNA database for all cases involving the report of an unidentified deceased person or a high-risk missing person, according to Assembly Bill 2018. Amendments to existing law will eliminate provisions for reporting “high-risk” missing persons and expand the use of the database for all cases of unidentified persons.

“The ‘high risk’ provision was an additional hoop that families of missing persons needed to meet and it contributed to a slower response in closing cold cases,” Assemblymember James C. Ramos, D-San Bernardino, and author of the bill, told The Center Square in an email.

The California State Senate passed the bill as part of the consent calendar. The bill passed unanimously and was not debated. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the bill on July 16. The law is set to take effect Jan. 1, 2027.

“Any missing person case — adult, child, Murdered or Missing Indigenous Person, or otherwise — is one too many,” Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a press release. “No family should know the prolonged uncertainty of waiting for answers, and together we’re making it clear that California takes action.”

“AB 2018 is the right tool at the right time that will advance California’s ability to resolve missing persons cases and rekindle hope,” Bonta added.

The law amendments will also allow for the retention of DNA if identified human remains in a case are incomplete, and if there is expectation that additional remains requiring identification will be found in the future. Existing law requires that DNA is destroyed after a positive identification is made and the report is issued.

The “Missing Person’s DNA Program” is part of the DOJ Division of Law Enforcement’s Bureau of Forensic Services. The MPDP works with the DOJ's Missing and Unidentified Persons Section.

“The Missing Persons DNA Program compares DNA from unidentified persons and unidentified human remains with DNA from personal articles belonging to missing persons and DNA from relatives of missing persons,” the office of the DOJ says. 

The Center Square reached out to Republican legislators, but they declined to do an interview.

State Sen. Tony Strickland, R-Huntington Beach, supported the legislation in an email to The Center Square.

“Every missing person leaves behind a family living with unimaginable uncertainty and grief,” Strickland wrote. “Parents, children, spouses, and siblings deserve answers, not decades of wondering what happened to someone they love.

“Protecting public safety is one of government’s fundamental responsibilities, and AB 2018, a bipartisan measure, brings California’s missing persons program into the modern era by incorporating advances in forensic science that can help identify the missing, solve cold cases, and provide grieving families with the answers and closure they deserve,” Strickland said. 

According to the bill, existing law requires that the MPDP database be funded by a $2 fee increase on death certificates. The California Department of Public Health issues official death certificates and charges $26 per copy.

At the time of publication, California’s missing person database listed 3,118 missing persons. 

The Center Square reached out to Assemblymember Ramos, who was unavailable to do an interview by the time of publication.