There are more than 1,000 people listed as long-term missing in New Jersey and about 320 unsolved unidentified human remains cases.
To help solve them, State Police hosted the third annual “Missing in New Jersey” event at Rutgers University Newark Center for Law and Justice.
Families were asked to bring items to help identify loved ones, such as photographs, fingerprints, dental records or X-rays. The family members also had the opportunity to give DNA samples to be checked against a national database.
Detective Sgt. First Class Joel Trella says the DNA provided could “allow [families] some closure and resolution to what happened to their missing loved one.”