NamUs provides technology, forensic services, and investigative support to resolve missing person and unidentified remains cases.
FastMotion / Shutterstock.com (see reuse policy).NamUs is in the process of transitioning to our new staffing model. We appreciate your patience as we update all NamUs processes. For any questions or concerns, please visit the Contact Us page and select your Regional Support option. Learn more about our new staffing model .
May 5th is the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. NamUs is dedicated to raising awareness of the thousands of Indigenous women, girls, and people who have gone missing or have been murdered in the United States. As we observe this day, NamUs sat down with our own Tribal Liaison, Cornelia Perry, Dine’ of the Navajo Nation. Learn more about Ms. Perry .
We have published the first ever NamUs Annual Report, which provides a summary of milestones and developments from October 1, 2021, to September 30, 2022.
The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) is a national centralized repository and resource center for missing, unidentified, and unclaimed person cases across the United States.
NamUs helps investigators match long-term missing persons with unidentified remains to resolve cases and bring resolution to families.
At any given time, up to 100,000 persons may be reported missing in the United States with as many as 600,000 reported annually.[1] While many of these individuals are found alive and well, some become long-term missing persons. At the same time, federal, state and local medicolegal death investigators are constantly working to provide names to thousands of deceased persons nationwide. Over 11,000 sets of unidentified human remains were held in medical examiner and coroner offices throughout the U.S. according to the 2018 Census of Medical Examiners and Coroners.[2]
NamUs was created to assist with identifying these decedents by allowing investigators to match to long-term missing person cases and by offering professionals free forensic services.
