ARVADA, Colo. — This week, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation is asking families to come to an open house to help solve missing persons cases.
CBI currently has 1,200 active missing persons cases in Colorado. Some cases involve people who have run away or cases that are resolved quickly. However each year, investigators read off nearly 700 names of people who have been missing for more than a year at an annual event to raise awareness.
The work done at events like this makes a difference, according to the CBI, though it may take time to see results.
"There have been collections made and identifications made just even in the last six to eight months on cases that would have been a little more delayed had we not had these events in place," Audrey Simkins from the CBI said. "And then I think the other thing is, it does give families an opportunity to be involved in their case."
Investigators are asking families to bring updated photos and medical or dental records to help with their missing persons investigations. The CBI is also requesting that at least two close relatives to the missing person provide cheek swabs for DNA samples. It will be uploaded into a database for investigators to use if there's a breakthrough. Ideally, these samples would come from parents of the missing person, followed by children and siblings.
"Sometimes missing person cases can be difficult because there's not a lot of follow up to be done. Sometimes those cases are really slow, so this gives law enforcement a chance to engage with those families again and ask for a little bit of assistance, which I think just helps them feel maybe like they're part of the process and that we're all working together," Simkins said.
CBI has been hosting events like this across the state. This week, the agency is partnering with the Arvada Police Department.
If you haven't filed a missing person report, investigators ask you do that before the event on Thursday, so you can share that information with them during the open house.
The event is from 1 to 8 p.m. Thursday, November 20, at the Lake Arbor Community Station located at 8110 Vance Drive, Arvada, CO 80003. Anyone can attend.
