Records lacking in missing-person cases

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - Dental records of missing persons are collected in only 3 percent of cases in the state, and that's a huge problem, according to the Office of the Medical Investigator.

When a body is found, it can be hard to track down the records years after the person went missing. Now, OMI and Lt. Gov. Diane Denish, who has been leading a task force on missing persons, want law enforcement agencies to collect records more often.

The women whose skeletal remains were recovered from makeshift graves on Albuquerque's west mesa earlier this year illustrate the issue. Most disappeared from 2000 to 2005. but their dental records were never pulled.

Now four still can't be identified because no one can find their records yet.

"It doesn't seem like it's being done often enough," Dr. Peter Loomis, a forensic dentist with OMI, said.

Loomis works to identify remains through dental records. He said law enforcement needs to collect as much information as they can when a missing persons report is filed.

"At least get the name of their dentist and the name of their physician," he said. "They don't have to go out and collect the records right away, but after 30 days, yes, then they should collect the records.”

Denish agreed but said she understands there has been resistance from dentists worried if they hand over a record they will violate HIPAA, the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.

“Dentists are eager to cooperate," Denish said. "We want to make sure they know how to do that and be fully protected if they need to be."

The Albuquerque Police Department has run into that problem.

"Many dentists are apprehensive because of the HIPAA laws," APD spokesman John Walsh said.

Walsh said investigators will look for records on cases that require them, but it's not as easy as it sounds. The missing person may have never have sat under the big light in a dentist's chair.

"By not seeking out dental treatment there are no records available." Walsh said. In other cases the families may not know who treated the missing person.

"People simply don't know what dentist they went to," Walsh continued. "That seems a little odd, but it is more so that it happens than not.”

Loomis said he understands that there are bumps in the system but added those need to be ironed out now. And he wants to review older missing persons cases and get records for those people too.

Loomis also said he will store dental records handed over by law enforcement agencies.

He will also enter them into the database of the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System operated by the U.S. Department of Justice so that they can be seen by anyone across the country.

A spokesperson for the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office said it is overhauling how missing persons cases are handled. From now on investigators will obtain dental records on any cases labeled "at risk," the spokesperson said.