Crime

Want to search for missing persons, or help ID unidentified bodies? Here’s how you can help

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‘We won’t stop looking’

For families of Miami’s legions of the lost, hope persists -- even decades later.


If you have a loved one who has gone missing or want to help in the search of a missing person, there are many resources.

To contact the Miami-Dade Police’s Missing Persons Bureau, call 305-715-3300 or call Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477. The bureau’s website also features cases that need solving.

In the City of Miami, the Missing Persons Unit can be reached at 305-603-6350, and its web page accessed here.

In Broward, the Sheriff’s Office’s missing persons cases can be found at this website. BSO can be reached at 954-321-4735. To learn more about missing persons cases in Fort Lauderdale, visit this website, or call the department at 954-764-4357..

Statewide, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement also runs the Missing Endangered Persons Information Clearinghouse, which can be reached at 888-356-4774. It too runs a comprehensive database with information that can be accessed at this page.

Nationally, the federal government runs the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, or NAMUS, which “provides technology, forensic services, and investigative support to resolve missing person and unidentified remains cases.” The system’s database can be explored here.

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children also runs a clearinghouse and comprehensive reporting center for missing children. Missing kids posters can be browsed here.

Other non-profits for missing persons and unidentified-remains cases include the Charley Project and the Doe Network. Information on unidentified remains in Miami-Dade County can also be found on the Instagram page for the Medical Examiner’s Office.

This story was originally published November 17, 2021 at 7:00 AM.

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David Ovalle
Miami Herald
David Ovalle covers crime and courts in Miami. A native of San Diego, he graduated from the University of Southern California and joined the Herald in 2002 as a sports reporter.
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‘We won’t stop looking’

For families of Miami’s legions of the lost, hope persists -- even decades later.