FORT WAYNE, Ind. — Indiana State Police is taking a second look at long-term missing persons cases.
Citing advances in technology, they are reaching out to the families of people who have been missing for a long time.
There are currently 1,163 missing people listed on the Indiana State Police "Missing Person Bulletin." The oldest case is from 1974.
If you have a long-term missing person in your family, you are urged to call the dedicated hotline at 833-466-2653. You can also email ispcoldcase@isp.in.gov.
In a statement, they asked for the following information:
"Family members calling the hotline are asked to leave your name, phone number, the name of your missing relative, and the city/county from which they were reported missing. A detective with the ISP Cold Case Investigative Squad will then reach out to you as soon as possible to discuss your case."
Here is the ISP missing person bulletin as of Aug. 15, 2024.
Shannon Turner, one of the women on that list, has been missing for almost 30 years. Her brother Greg told 13News they still do not have answers in her case.
"It's human nature that we need an answer for everything, that's how we are built," he said. "Never having an answer just drives you insane."
He said investigators have not reached out about his sister's case but this unit could discover new evidence.
"The more ideas you get or the more input you get, the better chance you have at solving something," he said. "One guy is not going to think of everything on his own, somebody may pull something out someone never thought of before and that might be your key."
Greg is coming to Indianapolis to celebrate Shannon's 60th birthday, but he hopes she can give her the present of answers for her and other missing people in the state.
"If I don't find her, at least in my journey I have helped somebody else find their loved one, I think she'd smile," he said.
500,000+ missing persons reports a year
According to the FBI, more than 563,000 missing persons reports were filed in 2023 alone. More than 375,000 of them were children. It isn't a new problem. Between 2007 and 2020, an average of 664,776 missing persons reports were filed every year.
The FBI maintains a searchable database of kidnappings and missing persons.
The Department of Justice also maintains the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, or NamUs.
According to the NamUs website:
"The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) is a national centralized repository and resource center for missing, unidentified, and unclaimed person cases across the United States.
NamUs helps investigators match long-term missing persons with unidentified remains to resolve cases and bring resolution to families."
According to the NamUs website, they are looking into 227 open cases from Indiana. They have resolved 325 cases.