NYC event hopes to identify missing persons
Families and friends of missing persons in the New York City and Long Island area will be able to visit the office of the New York City Medical Examiner Saturday to provide information that could help identify the missing.
The 2017 Missing Persons Day is the third time such an event has been held since 2014. Anyone attending the event at 421 East 26th St. at First Avenue in Manhattan, can provide information about a missing relative or loved one, including providing a reference DNA sample.
In 2014 and 2016, hundreds of families attended the event and provided information that led to the identification of eight missing and unidentified persons whose remains were found in the city, as well as in Nassau and Suffolk counties and nearby New Jersey. One individual from Ecuador was also identified, said a spokeswoman for medical examiner Dr. Barbara Sampson.
The Missing Persons Day event will run from 9:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. at the Hirsch Center for Forensic Sciences at the First Avenue address. Similar events take place at various times around the country.
Among the recent identifications made were those involving three people whose remains were found in Nassau and Suffolk counties from 1995 through 2003. The medical examiner’s office wouldn’t identify the families involved.
Anyone seeking more information can call 212-323-1201. Interpreter services are available. Information is also available at nyc.gov/missingpersonsday
Anthony M. DeStefano has been a reporter for Newsday since 1986 and covers law enforcement, criminal justice and legal affairs from its New York City offices.
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