CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- The Cook County Medical Examiner is hoping to help resolve some missing persons cases on Saturday at the third annual Missing Persons Day event.
Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Ponni Arunkumar said about 150 friends and family have come to the prior two events.
"We were able to help one family find their missing loved one and unfortunately he was deceased in our office, but they were able to get closure," she said.
Relatives of missing persons are asked to come into their office on Saturday and bring something with the missing person's DNA on it, such as a comb or toothbrush, or offer their own sample.
"They will be able to submit oral swaps and hence their DNA will be in the missing persons database, such that, it is run against all the missing open cases across the country," she said.
Cook County currently has 15 unidentified bodies and there are some 16,000 missing persons in the United States.
The third annual Missing Persons Day event is Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in its office on the Near West Side. It is in partnership with the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System and the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children.
Representatives from the Mexican and Polish consulates will be there, as well as police, clergy, and local coroners.





