The Ohio Attorney General’s office reports there were 21,342 missing persons cases last year. That includes 16,404 missing children.
While more than 96% of those missing kids were found safe, the number of children who have not been located in recent years continues to grow. A working group, made up of law enforcement leaders, legislative representatives and families of missing persons, has been looking into what could make investigations into those disappearances more effective.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said Tuesday the group came up with 18 recommendations that range from administrative changes to new laws.
“Covering better information sharing between law enforcement agencies, improved communication between investigators and the families, increased training and public education, and comprehensive support for youth who, for a variety of reasons, consistently leave their homes or their congregate care settings,” DeWine said.
DeWine said some of the changes can happen immediately or in the near future, like those requiring better reporting and resources for law enforcement and the communications between police and families of missing persons.
Amy Chapman, a working group member, knows how important it is to have better communication between law enforcement and families. Her brother, Andy Chapman, has been missing for nearly two decades.
“Families are the key to that individual's habits. Friends, records. And we cannot emphasize enough that families are victims too, and they need to be considered in these cases,” Chapman said.
Some of the changes recommended in this report include more training for officers and more public education. Others would require legislative action.
Director of the Ohio Dept of Public Safety, Andy Wilson, said he supports a recommendation for a law to be created that would make it easier to get search warrants in cases of missing persons. He said it’s often difficult to do that currently.
“In order to get a search warrant, you have to allege that a criminal act has taken place and you have to show there is probable cause that a criminal act has occurred. And a lot of times, because of the facts of these investigations, we just don’t know if a criminal act has occurred,” Wilson said.
Some of the recommendations involve state and federal agencies working together and a more accessible reporting database.
One recommendation calls for the Ohio Department of Children and youth, the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation and the Ohio Office of Criminal Justice Services to collaborate with local law enforcement to develop a pilot program to provide support to at-risk kids who regularly leave their homes or group home settings.
And one provision asks the Ohio Legislature to increase penalties for suspects who interfere with custody by removing a child or children out of Ohio to another state or a foreign country. DeWine said once children are removed from the United States, it is hard to get them back.
“Some of the most tragic cases that I have been involved in for many, many years, going back to when I was in the Senate, have been custody cases where the child was taken outside the country. This is a serious matter. It is extremely difficult for anybody to do anything about that once that child is outside the custody of the United States,” DeWine said.
The working group's full report details why some of the changes are being proposed and provides specifics on the recommendations made.
