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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Canada needs DNA bank for missing persons
We are fascinated by the forensic science dramatized in TV shows like CSI, but did you know that Canadian investigators do not have the capability to compare the DNA of missing persons to found human remains nationally?
Canada has a crime scene and a convicted offender DNA databank, but it is used only to identify criminals, not to link DNA from missing persons with unidentified remains.
Although the software, technology and infrastructure for a missing person databank are in place, the government has been stonewalling its implementation for almost 10 years, citing legal and jurisdictional issues. The delay, however, really has more to do with lab resources and funding.
For nearly a decade, federal and provincial governments have debated, studied, analyzed and submitted reports. While they form endless committees and fight over who will be responsible and who will pay, human remains in coroners' offices across Canada continue to be unidentified.
My 14-year-old daughter, Lindsey Jill Nicholls, vanished in 1992, and I remember the very moment I realized her remains could be among those unidentified samples.
I have the right to know if my daughter's body has been found, and Lindsey deserves justice and a proper burial.
To this end, I have lobbied for the passage of what has come to be known as Lindsey's Law, which would allow investigators to collect DNA from missing persons or their close relatives and compare it to DNA from crime scenes and unidentified human remains.
The quest for a missing persons DNA databank is not just about giving comfort to family members of the missing, however; it is also about the safety of your family and of all Canadians.
Until remains are identified, the police cannot begin an investigation, so if Lindsey was abducted and murdered, her murderer is still out there.
This Saturday, the CTV news program W5 will air the documentary Chasing Ghosts on this issue. You can visit the website www.lindseyslaw.com to learn more about the need for a DNA databank.
Public Safety Minister Vic Toews is responsible for the existing DNA databank. Both the Senate and the Public Safety Committees have recommended that he act quickly to implement Lindsey's law.
This will not only help bring comfort and the possibility of closure to thousands of family members, it could also identify serial murders and make our country a safer place.
Judy Peterson lives in Sidney on Vancouver Island.
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition November 18, 2010 A15
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