Harnessing Innovative Technology to Enhance Investigations and Bring the Missing Home
Wednesday, June 25, 2025
TIMES
04:30 pm - 05:30 pmLOCATION
303ADESCRIPTION
FEEDBACK
Approximately 600,000 people are reported missing in the United States annually and more than 33% of individuals entered into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) are older than 18. In 2017, 19-year-old Ashanti Billie was kidnapped in Virginia, and two weeks later, her body was found 350 miles away in Charlotte, North Carolina. The time and distance between her abduction and the discovery of her body exposed a significant issue – the absence of a multijurisdictional alert system for individuals over the age of 17, which may have facilitated faster coordination. This concern is further compounded by the fact that many missing persons cases are tied to other crimes. Understanding possible patterns of victimization is crucial for reconstructing the events leading to an abduction and ensuring that missing individuals are located quickly and returned home safely. During this presentation, the presenters will showcase a newly developed communications network being piloted this year as identified in the Ashanti Alert Act. The National Ashanti Alert Network enables participating state jurisdictions to share missing and endangered persons alerts across state, territorial, and tribal lines. The Network is built using the latest technology and provides a fast, easy, and secure solution for sharing alert information, creating flyers, and sharing investigative information electronically. Additionally, this presentation will examine real-life cases of missing endangered individuals and how the Network can aid in these investigations and foster multijurisdictional collaboration. Attendees will receive strategies, resources, and tools to support their efforts in solving missing person investigations.
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