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"Not knowing what has happened to a loved one is an overwhelming burden for Canadian families, a burden which is often accompanied by the unrelenting feeling that more could be done to try to locate their loved one," said Sue O'Sullivan, Federal Ombudsman for the Victims of Crime at the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security.
Every year, more than 60,000 people are reported missing in Canada. While about 85 per cent are found within a week, anywhere from 300 to 400 cases remain unresolved annually.
Currently, there are more than 6,000 cases in Canada that have been open for at least one year and remain unresolved despite the best efforts of investigators. For each of the thousands of missing persons in Canada, there is someone desperately searching, whose pain of the loss of a loved one is compounded by the burden of unanswered questions.
Over the past decade, there has been considerable support from the Canadian public, law enforcement, victims groups, parliamentarians and various levels of government for the creation of a national DNA-based program to support the investigations of missing persons. By the spring of 2017, the RCMP will establish new DNA-based tools to support the investigations of missing persons and unidentified remains, and further strengthen the support to criminal investigations across Canada provided by the RCMP's National DNA Data Bank (NDDB).
In December 2014, Parliament passed an amendment to the DNA Identification Act to expand the national use of DNA analysis, including supporting investigations of missing persons. Once this amendment comes into force, it will allow five new indices to be created within the NDDB.
Critical tool
Since the creation of the NDDB in 2000, the use of DNA has changed the way that criminal investigations are conducted and it has become one of the most important tools available to police and prosecutors. As of March 31, 2015, DNA analysis has assisted in 34,495 investigations, including 2,368 murders and 4,157 sexual assaults.
Currently, the NDDB is composed of two indices:
- the Convicted Offenders Index, which contains more than 300,000 DNA profiles of offenders convicted of a designated offence
- the Crime Scene Index, which contains more than 100,000 unknown DNA profiles derived from biological materials found at crime scenes
By comparing these two indices and identifying DNA profile 'matches,' the NDDB assists police in criminal investigations by linking crimes where there are no suspects; helping to identify suspects; eliminating suspects where there is no DNA match; and helping to determine if a serial offender is involved.
Despite its demonstrated success in assisting criminal investigations, the DNA Identification Act did not permit the national use of DNA to support the investigations of missing persons and unidentified remains, although some provinces and territories have made limited use of DNA analysis within their own jurisdictions.
Missing persons
In 2010, the RCMP established the National Centre for Missing Persons and Unidentified Remains (NCMPUR) to provide specialized investigative support services and enhanced comparative analysis across jurisdictions and agencies. With the passing of the amendments to the DNA Identification Act, NCMPUR will be able to facilitate access to the NDDB to provide new DNA tools to support police, coroners and medical examiners.
Once the legislation comes into force, a new humanitarian application will be created in the NDDB consisting of three new indices: the Missing Persons Index, the Relatives of Missing Persons Index, and the Human Remains Index.
The Missing Persons Index (MPI) will contain DNA profiles derived from the personal effects of missing persons, such as bodily substances, toothbrushes or clothing.
The Relatives of Missing Persons Index (RMI) will contain the DNA profiles of close relatives of missing persons to identify missing persons by kinship analysis using family reference samples. DNA from family members is critical to supporting the humanitarian application of the NDDB.
Family member DNA profiles will help to confirm that the DNA collected from personal effects actually belongs to the missing person and, in those circumstances where investigators are not able to obtain a DNA profile from a personal effect of the missing, kinship analysis can be used to help identify human remains.
The Human Remains Index (HRI) will contain DNA profiles from found human remains, whether partial or complete. DNA profiles in this index will be used to help link cases of found remains and to establish when found remains are from a missing person.
DNA profiles submitted by police, coroners and medical examiners will be compared within these new indices and to the Convicted Offenders and Crime Scene Indices to help identify remains and resolve missing persons investigations. The key exception to this is the Relatives of Missing Persons Index, which can only be compared to the Missing Persons Index and the Human Remains Index.
Comparing the new MPI and HRI to the approximately 400,000 DNA profiles in the Convicted Offenders and Crime Scene Indices could potentially open up new avenues in missing persons or criminal investigations. A match could serve to identify a found human remain or place a missing person at a crime scene, thereby establishing an approximate location of the missing person. This would provide valuable assistance to investigators to either resolve a case or provide new information that might not otherwise have been available.
Criminal investigations
The amended legislation also strengthens the support the NDDB provides to criminal investigations by creating two other indices. The first is the Victims Index, which will contain the DNA profiles of the victims of crime relevant to criminal investigations.
During the course of violent crimes, such as sexual assaults, it's common that a victim's DNA is left on the offender and later found at other locations or crime scenes. By comparing a victim's DNA against DNA found at crime scenes, police could be able to rapidly identify serial offenders, link cases and provide investigative leads. Whenever possible, victims of crime must consent to the collection and use of their DNA.
The second index is the Voluntary Donors Index, which will assist both the criminal and humanitarian applications of the NDDB. It will contain DNA profiles submitted voluntarily by persons to assist in a criminal or missing persons investigation by rapidly excluding individuals not relevant to investigations. DNA is a very discriminatory forensic tool that only requires minute traces of biological material to be used. It is therefore easy to transfer DNA from one point to another. A voluntary index would serve to eliminate the DNA of a person from a mixed DNA profile, a contaminated crime scene profile or a missing persons profile, such as a first responder at a crime scene or a roommate of the missing person.
Accessing the new indices
While the RCMP has used DNA analysis in the past to assist in unique humanitarian initiatives, the creation of an ongoing, national DNA program to support missing persons investigations is new for the RCMP and requires the development of a number of policies and procedures to support police, coroners and medical examiners.
Adding to the challenge of developing this new humanitarian program will be engaging with the private sector. The RCMP will not conduct DNA analysis for the new humanitarian indices, but will work to identify and authorize private sector laboratories to submit DNA profiles to the NDDB to populate the MPI, RMI and HRI. It will be the responsibility of police services, coroners and medical examiners to engage the private laboratories and have DNA profiles developed from the collected exhibits or remains.
DNA technologies have advanced significantly over the past decades. New methods and analysis have advanced the assistance that DNA can provide to missing persons and unidentified remains cases. By closely mirroring the technologies and best practices used by jurisdictions with established DNA-based missing persons programs, most notably in the United States, the RCMP will accept and compare DNA profiles from all types of forensic DNA identifications, including the current standard 'nuclear' DNA, mitochondrial DNA and y-STR DNA profiles. NCMPUR will work closely with investigators, coroners and medical examiners to identify the samples and processes that best suit the unique circumstances of each case.
To access the Victims and Voluntary Donor indices to support a criminal investigation, police services will engage their public forensic laboratory, consistent with established practices. As this is also a new program for the NDDB and the public forensic laboratories, the policies and procedures for submitting casework for the Victims and Voluntary Donors indices still to be worked out.
Over the next 18 months, the RCMP will work to implement this new program, including:
- developing the policies and procedures to allow investigators to access these new tools
- developing best practices to support investigators in the identification and collection of appropriate samples and exhibits
- working with various stakeholders to develop regulations around consent and privacy protections
- hiring and training new personnel with the specialized scientific skills set to facilitate the comparisons of humanitarian DNA profiles
- engaging with the private sector laboratories and undertaking technical audits to allow for the submission of DNA profiles to the NDDB
- engaging with the public forensic laboratories to support their use of the new criminal indices
DNA identification has repeatedly demonstrated its value to criminal investigations. Once these new indices are established, police, coroners and medical examiners will be able to benefit from the national use of DNA as a new tool to investigate missing persons and unidentified remains.
For the families, friends and loved ones of the missing, these tools may offer a new hope that their questions may be answered.