Group releases recommendations for improving missing person case investigations in Ohio

Yahoo

3 days ago

(WKBN) – After months of meetings, the Missing Persons Working Group has released a report of recommendations for improvements when investigating missing persons cases.
Chaired by Ohio Department of Public Safety Director Andy Wilson, the group includes law enforcement professionals, as well as those who work in social services and family members of those who have been reported missing. Jeff Allen, chief deputy at the Mahoning County Sheriff's Office, was also part of the group.
'Thousands of children and adults are reported missing each year, and although most are located quickly, some simply vanish, leaving anguished families behind and adding to law enforcement's growing caseload,' said Governor Mike DeWine. 'The goal of this working group was to identify what more we could do as a state to help law enforcement bring more missing people home and support family members during a time of great despair.'
Last year, 21,342 people were reported missing in Ohio, including 16,404 children. The 2024 Ohio Missing Children Clearinghouse Report details 239 children reported missing in Trumbull County, 639 in Mahoning County and 55 in Columbiana County.
While over 96% of the missing children were found, the number of children who have not been located over the years continues to grow, according to the Missing Persons Working Group's report. Currently, the Ohio Attorney General's Missing Persons Database lists more than 800 missing children, including some who haven't been seen for decades. The database also lists approximately 350 missing adults.
Among recommendations made by the Missing Persons Working Group were that improvements need to be made to the missing alert systems for children. The group recommended codifying criteria for the state's Endangered Missing Child Alert, as well as having the Ohio State Highway Patrol work with BCI to create an automatic process to notify necessary law enforcement agencies of these alerts.
The Endangered Missing Child Alert was created for cases in which a child is considered at risk if not found quickly but the circumstances of the disappearance do not meet the statutory mandates for an AMBER Alert. Last year, just 13 AMBER Alerts were issued across the state.
During their discussions, working group members learned that the process to activate an Endangered Missing Child Alert is not automated, in contrast to similar alerts issued in Ohio. For an AMBER Alert or Endangered Missing Adult Alert to be activated, law enforcement must enter the missing person's information into LEADS, which automatically triggers a notification to necessary law enforcement partners. However, when a child who could be classified as an endangered missing child is reported missing, local law enforcement must call BCI to request an Endangered Missing Child Alert. As such, many alerts are issued later or not at all.
DeWine has ordered several cabinet agencies to carry out automating the Endangered Missing Child Alerts as well as the other following recommendations:
The Ohio Collaborative Community-Police Advisory Board within the Department of Public Safety's Office of Criminal Justice Services will create a law enforcement best practices guide on interacting with family members of missing persons.
The Office of Criminal Justice Services will expand the Ohio Prisoner Extradition Reimbursement Program to include interference with custody cases.
The Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services and the Ohio Department of Health will develop continued professional training to further educate the healthcare industry on law enforcement exemptions to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.
The Ohio Department of Children and Youth, Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, and others will work with local law enforcement to develop a pilot program that utilizes advocates to support at-risk youth who regularly leave their homes or group home settings.
In its recommendations, the group also called on the Ohio General Assembly to create legislation allowing law enforcement and prosecutors to seek search warrants to gather information that may help them locate a high-risk missing person, as well as legislation to increase the criminal penalty for those who interfere with custody of a child by moving them out of the state.
The full report including those recommendations and others is available here.
DeWine also announced that in response to a recommendation from the working group, he is contacting the U.S. Attorney General's Office to alert them to deficiencies in data sharing between local, state and federal databases.
Further recommendations were made to the Ohio Attorney General's Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) to include the creation of a central repository of resources for families and investigators, the launch of an annual missing persons conference and the establishment of a confidential forum for law enforcement to discuss investigative techniques and perform case reviews.
'The testimony from family members of missing persons was particularly impactful, and the working group acknowledges the grief, loss, and trauma they've experienced,' said Ohio Department of Public Safety Director Andy Wilson. 'The pain and frustration expressed to the working group were real and readily apparent. The efforts of this working group aim to bring some level of relief, justice, or closure to those across the state who have experienced the loss associated with a missing family member. '
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