COLUMBUS, Ohio - Ohio Governor Mike DeWine and Ohio Department of Public Safety Director Andy Wilson today announced more than a dozen recommendations from the Ohio Missing Persons Working Group to improve the efficiency of missing persons investigations in Ohio.

Governor DeWine created the working group in January to examine the complexities of missing persons cases, the roadblocks encountered by law enforcement, and the struggles faced by families with missing loved ones. 

"Thousands of children and adults are reported missing each year, and although most are located quickly, some simply vanish, leaving anguished families behind and adding to law enforcement's growing caseload," said Governor DeWine. "The goal of this working group was to identify what more we could do as a state to help law enforcement bring more missing people home and support family members during a time of great despair."

Members of the working group, including law enforcement, advocates, family members, and educators, recommended 18 areas of improvement around the issues of information sharing between law enforcement agencies, communication between family members and investigators, continued professional training, public education, and advocacy. 

Working group members suggested several changes to Ohio law, including the strengthening of penalties for those who interfere with custody, the addition of Endangered Missing Child Alerts to the Ohio Revised Code, and the ability for law enforcement to more easily access information such as phone and social media records in circumstances where a missing person is believed to be at risk.

Other recommendations aim to ease the burden on family members by breaking down communication barriers with law enforcement, providing easier access to resources, and engaging advocates to support families of children who repeatedly disappear.

"The testimony from family members of missing persons was particularly impactful, and the working group acknowledges the grief, loss, and trauma they've experienced," said Ohio Department of Public Safety Director Andy Wilson, who chaired the working group. "The pain and frustration expressed to the working group were real and readily apparent. The efforts of this working group aim to bring some level of relief, justice, or closure to those across the state who have experienced the loss associated with a missing family member."

MORE DETAILS: MISSING PERSONS WORKING GROUP REPORT

Governor DeWine has ordered several cabinet agencies to carry out multiple recommendations, including: 

• The Ohio State Highway Patrol within the Ohio Department of Public Safety will automate the process of notifying specific law enforcement agencies of Endangered Missing Child Alerts.
• The Ohio Collaborative Community-Police Advisory Board within the Department of Public Safety's Office of Criminal Justice Services will create a law enforcement best practices guide on interacting with family members of missing persons.
• The Office of Criminal Justice Services will expand the Ohio Prisoner Extradition Reimbursement Program to include interference with custody cases. 
• The Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services and the Ohio Department of Health will develop continued professional training to further educate the healthcare industry on law enforcement exemptions to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.
• The Ohio Department of Children and Youth, Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, and others will work with local law enforcement to develop a pilot program that utilizes advocates to support at-risk youth who regularly leave their homes or group home settings.   

Governor DeWine also announced today that, in response to a recommendation from the working group, he is contacting the U.S. Attorney General's Office to alert them to deficiencies in data sharing between local, state, and federal databases. 

Further recommendations were made to the Ohio Attorney General's Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI). BCI's Missing Persons Unit is the state authority on missing persons investigations and can assist local law enforcement agencies on request. Suggestions for BCI include the creation of a central repository of resources for families and investigators, the launch of an annual missing persons conference, and the establishment of a confidential forum for law enforcement to discuss investigative techniques and perform case reviews.