LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — According to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, as many as 600,000 people go missing in the United States every year.
Officials say there are hundreds of missing persons cases in Clark County, with 300 cases of unidentified remains.
Jessica Kearns, a case worker and regional coordinator with Missing People in America, sees firsthand what families go through when their loved ones go missing.
"These families are just in turmoil and so confused and lost," Kearns said. "It’s really heartbreaking to watch."
Earlier this month, the Clark County coroner held its first Missing in Nevada Day. It was an event for families to share information like DNA samples, medical records, and photographs of their loved ones to the department in the hopes of finding a connection to unidentified remains.
"If people don’t report their missing loved one and don’t provide that information for comparison, we have no way to make an identification," Clark County Coroner Melanie Rouse said.
WATCH | Rouse speaks to the importance of identifying remains and what it does for the loved ones of those missing.
The Coroner's Office says that while some remains are quickly identified, other cases can take decades to solve. The older the remains, the more difficult the process can be.
"To make an identification requires the comparison of information from when they were alive to information that we collect after their death," Rouse said. "That comparison can be based on, sometimes it's fingerprints, depending on the condition of the remains. Sometimes it’s dental, X-rays that can be compared to other X-rays."
Former Clark County Coroner Mike Murphy also knows just how important it is to be able to provide loved ones with a resolution.
"When you talk to the victims' families of a missing person, they will tell you that they never stop looking, ever. Until you give them an answer," Murphy said.
In 2003, Murphy and his team at the Clark County Coroner's Office launched a local website with a data bank of unidentified remains in the hopes that someone in the community would recognize them.
That website eventually became NAMUS.
"We identified three within the first 48 hours; we identified one within the first 24 hours," Murphy said.
There's one missing and unidentified person case that Murphy remembers clearly. A case that shocked the valley back in 2006.
A murdered three-year-old was found in the east Valley, her body dumped in a dumpster at the Cordova Apartments. When they found her, she was given the name "Jane Cordova Doe." She was eventually identified as Crystal Figueroa.
WATCH | This Channel 13 report follows what law enforcement was doing to identify this girl in 2006.
"I know where I was when I got the phone call that said 'We’ve identified Jane Cordova Doe,'” Murphy said. "Those are the kinds of cases that when they come to fruition, that stuff is when it comes together and you’re like 'It’s working!' I’m grateful for the opportunity to have been involved in that."
A Clark County jury eventually convicted both Crystal's mother and her boyfriend of killing the little girl. It's justice those who work with unidentified remains or missing persons cases hope to find for all families.
"We want to be able to provide them with a name. We want to be able to hopefully find their families and hopefully be able to get them answers that they may have been looking for for a very long time," Rouse said.
If you'd like to submit samples or information about a missing loved one for a possible identification match, the Coroner's Office says the first step is to report to law enforcement's Missing Person's Division.
The office says they hope to have more Missing in Nevada Day events in the future. If you were unable to attend the one held earlier this month, you can get still get support by emailing missinginnevada@clarkcountynv.gov.
