KNOXVILLE – A computer tool that crosschecks cold cases with unidentified bodies could help identify missing people.
The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System has been online for a relatively short time and is being used to resolve cases, The Knoxville News Sentinel reported Sunday.
Known by the acronym NamUs [name us], the dual database comparison can be used by the public as well as police agencies. Criminal analyst Amy Dobbs of the Knox County Sheriff’s Office said the system is three years old and she and others who use it have been offering training to departments that were not familiar with it.
One of the cases Dobbs is working on is that of a man found shot to death more than 30 years ago. His skeletal remains were found on Jan. 12, 1982, in a wooded area of eastern Knox County.
The remains show he was a black man, about 5-feet-10, probably in his 30s or 40s. There was no identification in the dark trousers he wore. He had been dressed in a blue pullover shirt, red and white socks and size 9 zip-up shoes. There was a .38-caliber bullet wound to the back of his skull.