EVANSVILLE, IN - Here's a staggering number: More than 100,000 missing person cases are on file in the U.S. Department of Justice. NEWS 25 looked into a new push by an Indiana State Representative to help find missing people faster.
We discovered there were more than 500 missing person cases reported right here in Evansville just last year. The Evansville Police Department said most of those cases were solved in just a couple of days, but Indiana Congressman David Cheatham told us it's the few cases that are not solved he wants to change.
Molly Dattilo was a student at Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis. On the night of July 6th 2004 she went missing while picking up a job application at a Wendy's Restaurant. She has never been found.
Monday NEWS 25 talked to her cousin, Keri Dattilo. "It's a living nightmare! There are some many people that are living this nightmare right now and you don't know what it's like until you live through it," said Dattilo. Dattilo said police have a certain amount of criteria a case has to meet until it's placed in the high priority pile. "Molly's case was not considered high priority until after 6 weeks," she said.
Struck by the pain of not finding a trace of her cousin, Keri Dattilo contacted State representative David Cheatham to see if there was something that could be done. Cheatham introduced a bill. "What it does is give discretions to police as far to take the report from the information obtained and look into it further," said Cheatham. "If it was in place then it would have moved her into high priority," Dattilo said.
The bill would also allow police to obtain DNA from family members after 30 days without a court order. "The quicker the response time the better," said Cheatham. But some police said by allowing more people on the high priority list defeats the purpose of having one. Some say it could hurt other missing people, like children who could be in immediate danger if missing.
Cheatham disagrees, "The last thing we want to do is take away from Amber Alerts. Anything we can do to keep families from experiencing this pain is certainly worth doing." If Cheatham's bill becomes law it will go into effect July first.
We discovered there were more than 500 missing person cases reported right here in Evansville just last year. The Evansville Police Department said most of those cases were solved in just a couple of days, but Indiana Congressman David Cheatham told us it's the few cases that are not solved he wants to change.
Molly Dattilo was a student at Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis. On the night of July 6th 2004 she went missing while picking up a job application at a Wendy's Restaurant. She has never been found.
Monday NEWS 25 talked to her cousin, Keri Dattilo. "It's a living nightmare! There are some many people that are living this nightmare right now and you don't know what it's like until you live through it," said Dattilo. Dattilo said police have a certain amount of criteria a case has to meet until it's placed in the high priority pile. "Molly's case was not considered high priority until after 6 weeks," she said.
Struck by the pain of not finding a trace of her cousin, Keri Dattilo contacted State representative David Cheatham to see if there was something that could be done. Cheatham introduced a bill. "What it does is give discretions to police as far to take the report from the information obtained and look into it further," said Cheatham. "If it was in place then it would have moved her into high priority," Dattilo said.
The bill would also allow police to obtain DNA from family members after 30 days without a court order. "The quicker the response time the better," said Cheatham. But some police said by allowing more people on the high priority list defeats the purpose of having one. Some say it could hurt other missing people, like children who could be in immediate danger if missing.
Cheatham disagrees, "The last thing we want to do is take away from Amber Alerts. Anything we can do to keep families from experiencing this pain is certainly worth doing." If Cheatham's bill becomes law it will go into effect July first.
For more information on the bill check out this link.
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