When unidentified remains are found, investigators often face an overwhelming challenge: how do you identify the person when there is nothing to compare them against?
One of the most powerful tools available to law enforcement and forensic professionals is already in place: CODIS, the Combined DNA Index System. Yet despite its value, family members of missing persons are still mostly unaware that they can provide DNA samples for upload into the system to help identify their loved ones. Investigators often lack the time and bandwidth to facilitate outreach, education, and collection.
Those gaps can have enormous consequences.
DNA from family members can be the key that transforms an unidentified remains case into an identification. Without those reference samples, even high-quality forensic DNA profiles from unidentified persons may sit in databases for years without generating a match. CODIS can only work when the system is populated with both unidentified remains’ profiles and family reference samples.
For most missing persons’ cases that are reported, the collection of family reference samples is not insurmountable, and is a vital step that should happen long before investigators move to more advanced and time-consuming investigative methods.
Understanding How CODIS Supports Missing Persons Investigations
Within CODIS are specialized indexes designed specifically to help investigators identify individuals whose identities are unknown.
The system includes:
Missing Persons Index (direct reference samples) – Contains DNA profiles developed from known samples belonging to missing individuals. These samples may come from personal items such as toothbrushes, razors, or other belongings believed to contain the missing person’s DNA.
Relatives of Missing Persons Index – Contains DNA profiles collected from biological family members of missing individuals. These family reference samples help investigators identify biological relationships when direct DNA from the missing person is unavailable or incomplete.
Unidentified Human Remains Index – Contains DNA profiles developed from unidentified remains recovered by medical examiners or law enforcement agencies when the identity of the individual is unknown.
How the Indexes Work Together
When DNA profiles are entered into these indexes, CODIS searches for potential biological relationships between missing persons, family reference samples, and unidentified remains cases across local, state, and national databases. Unidentified remains’ profiles are also searched against the convicted offender and arrestee index.
This process allows investigators to generate leads that may not have otherwise been possible, particularly when cases involve multiple jurisdictions or individuals who crossed state or international borders.
When a potential match is identified, qualified forensic laboratories review and confirm the result before investigators move forward with identification efforts.
What Success Can Look Like
The impact of strong CODIS participation is constantly being demonstrated by agencies prioritizing missing persons and unidentified human remains work.
At the University of New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator, an initial batch of 25 missing and unidentified cases submitted between 2023 and 2024 through the New Mexico DNA Identification System (NMDIS) Administrative Center resulted in a 42% success rate. The effort generated three familial matches, seven identifications through CODIS searching, and five additional associations confirmed through supplemental testing methods such as mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and Y-chromosome testing. According to project expectations, investigators initially anticipated approximately five successful outcomes.
Similarly, the Davidson County Medical Examiner’s Office in Tennessee submitted an initial batch of seven cases in 2025, resulting in three positive identifications through CODIS. Notably, one identification was made through a daughter’s family reference sample submitted to the Missing Persons Index, underscoring the importance of family DNA participation.
These examples reinforce a critical point: when agencies prioritize uploads and families contribute reference samples, CODIS can generate meaningful investigative leads and real-world resolutions.
Why Family Reference Collection Is Essential
The Human Identification team at Bode Technology is working to support medical examiners, law enforcement agencies, and non-profit organizations in their efforts to build the number of unidentified remains, family references, and direct references that are being uploaded into CODIS. Families are waiting for answers, explanations, and closure and often looking for how they can help with the process. Family reference collection is a critical step before moving to more advanced techniques like Forensic Investigative Genetic Genealogy.
Many missing persons’ investigations begin with photographs, interviews, dental records, or fingerprints. While those tools remain important, DNA provides a long-term investigative resource that can continue searching for leads years into the future.
Many families may also hesitate to donate DNA because they do not fully understand how their information will be used. Family reference samples submitted for missing persons investigations are used specifically to support pedigree building and biological relationship searching within CODIS for unidentified human remains cases. These profiles are not entered for criminal investigative purposes. Educating families about how these systems work is critical because misunderstandings can unintentionally reduce the chances of an identification being made.
Family reference samples are a key component of missing persons’ identification efforts, allowing investigators to compare DNA from parents, children, siblings, or other biological relatives against unidentified remains entered into CODIS. Even partial biological relationships can help investigators narrow possibilities and identify individuals.
The earlier those samples are collected, the better.
Unfortunately, family reference collection is still not consistently flagged or prioritized in many investigations. Some families are never asked to provide samples at all. In other cases, agencies may not know where to send the samples or how to ensure they are uploaded appropriately.
That creates a major problem: DNA from unidentified remains may already exist within CODIS, but without a corresponding family reference sample, there is no pathway to generate a match.
Additional DNA technologies can also strengthen these efforts. Techniques such as Y-STR analysis and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) testing can help investigators evaluate paternal and maternal relationships, particularly in cases involving degraded remains or limited biological material. These tools can add weight to investigative leads and help narrow potential family connections when standard STR testing alone may not be sufficient.
The important role of FIGG
Forensic Investigative Genetic Genealogy (FIGG) has become an important tool in forensic investigations, particularly in complex or long-unsolved cases. However, FIGG is not necessarily the first DNA step needed in a missing persons’ investigation.
In many situations, strong CODIS practices and proper family reference collection can resolve cases without the need for costly and time-intensive genealogical analysis.
FIGG is most effective when all traditional investigative pathways have been exhausted, including:
- Collection of family reference samples
- CODIS uploads and comparisons
- Coordination with missing persons databases
- Interagency collaboration
- Review of unidentified remains cases across jurisdictions
When those steps are skipped, agencies may move to advanced techniques prematurely.
The reality is that many missing persons’ cases can still be solved using the systems and infrastructure already available — if enough effort is put into populating and utilizing them correctly.
For agencies looking to expand these efforts, access to funding and educational resources can play a critical role. Bode Technology provides grant support resources to help agencies identify and navigate available forensic funding opportunities.
That being said, FIGG continues to play an ever-increasing role in restoring names, especially in more historical cases where the missing person report was lost or purged, family members have passed, and/or only more distantly related family members remain to provide DNA, instances where the person was never officially reported missing or came from a fragmented family situation, and cases involving foul play where relatives were involved.
Because of the above situations, FIGG remains a powerful tool when more traditional avenues fail. The case of Roberta Mumma is an example of circumstances making a CODIS association impossible. Roberta was from Pennsylvania but became estranged from her family when she was in college. Her family heard from her sporadically and never reported her missing as they assumed she would eventually return home. Sadly, Roberta became a homicide victim. Her body was recovered many states away in Texas in 1984. Despite exhaustive investigative efforts she was only identified in 2024 through the use of FIGG.
There are many cases like Roberta’s, which is why populating and using all available DNA databases is critical.
Community Outreach and Missing Persons Collection Events
Across the country, agencies routinely organize missing persons’ collection events designed to encourage families to submit DNA samples and learn more about available investigative resources. These events not only facilitate DNA collection but also help build trust, education, and community engagement.
The impact of the organized collection events often extends beyond the day-of as word travels across social media, press releases, and flyers. Family members often call before and after collection events asking how they can still donate because they thought they missed the opportunity or the specific day, in turn opening the conversation with the organizing agency. The events also are known to bring out families who have already donated, but return simply for the sense of community and connection.
These events also reinforce an important reality: medical examiners, forensic scientists, and investigators want answers just as much as families do. Missing persons and unidentified remains work is deeply personal for the professionals involved, and increased funding and collaboration have allowed more agencies to dedicate meaningful resources to these investigations.
The Need for Greater Collaboration
Missing persons investigations require coordination between medical examiners, law enforcement agencies, crime laboratories, and national databases such as National Crime Information Center (NCIC) and National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs).
There is also a constant need for more proactive family reference sample collection and database engagement nationwide. Families should understand that providing a DNA sample can play a critical role in helping investigators identify their loved ones. In many cases, local law enforcement agencies, medical examiner offices, or missing persons units can assist with collecting and submitting family reference samples for CODIS entry.
Pinal County’s Approach to Family Reference Collection
The work being done by the Pinal County Medical Examiner’s Office (PCMEO) through the Bureau of Justice Assistance’s Missing and Unidentified Human Remains Grant Initiative provides a strong example of what can happen when agencies prioritize family reference collection and consistent CODIS participation.
According to PCMEO’s 2025 annual report, the office collected “70 DNA samples from family members of 51 missing persons for entry into the CODIS national DNA database” during 2025 alone. These efforts were conducted “with the assistance of the governments in Guatemala, Mexico, and Canada, as well as law enforcement agencies in eight jurisdictions.”
A major component of that outreach effort was Missing in Arizona Day, held on October 18, 2025. The event invited families to update missing persons reports and provide “DNA reference samples, photographs, medical records, fingerprints, and dental records to help aid in the search for their missing loved ones.”
PCMEO reported that families traveled from Arizona, California, and Mexico to participate. Importantly, the outreach extended beyond those physically present at the event. According to the annual report, organizers were contacted by several families who could not attend in person, including some outside Arizona. One of those families ultimately received answers after their missing loved one was identified as an unidentified individual who had been in the custody of a local medical examiner’s office since 2024.
These efforts reinforce an important lesson for the forensic community: outreach matters. Many families are willing to provide DNA samples once they understand how the process works and how their participation may help generate an identification.
Real-World Results from CODIS Participation
The impact of these efforts can already be seen in the resolutions generated through PCMEO’s grant-funded work.
According to PCMEO’s 2025 annual report, the office helped facilitate multiple case resolutions through a combination of family reference collection, CODIS participation, and interagency collaboration. The report also highlighted the importance of sustained outreach efforts, particularly through Missing in Arizona Day and partnerships with foreign consulates and law enforcement agencies across multiple jurisdictions.
These efforts resulted in additional family reference samples being submitted for CODIS entry, expanded engagement with families of missing persons, and successful identifications involving both local and international cases.
The broader takeaway is not simply the number of identifications achieved, but the process that made them possible. By prioritizing family outreach, encouraging DNA submissions, and ensuring profiles were entered into CODIS, PCMEO created more opportunities for investigative leads and eventual case resolutions.
The work serves as a strong example of how proactive DNA collection and database participation can significantly improve missing persons’ investigations over time.
Building Better Outcomes for Families
Every unidentified remains case represents a person waiting to be named and a family waiting for answers.
CODIS remains one of the most consequential tools available for missing persons’ investigations, but its success depends entirely on participation. The more agencies prioritize DNA collection, family outreach, and database entry, the greater the likelihood of generating meaningful matches.
For many families, a simple DNA sample can become the connection that finally brings a loved one home.
While strong CODIS practices and family reference collection can resolve many cases, advanced investigative tools like FIGG also play an important role when traditional investigative pathways have been exhausted. Rather than viewing CODIS and FIGG as competing approaches, they should be viewed as complementary tools that work together to restore names to the unidentified and provide answers to families.
At every stage of the process, the goal remains the same: generating leads, supporting investigations, and helping return identities to those who have gone unnamed for far too long.