California Expands DNA Program to Identify Living Missing People Under AB 2018

1 articles · Updated · Fox News · Aug 3

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 2018 last month, letting California’s Missing Persons DNA Program identify unknown people who are alive, not just deceased individuals.
The change broadens state forensic support for coroners, medical examiners and police revisiting unresolved missing-person cases and trying to identify unknown individuals across California.
The law also allows relatives’ DNA samples to stay in the system longer when investigators think additional related remains could later be recovered and need identification.
Supporters, including Attorney General Rob Bonta and Assemblymember James Ramos, said the expansion could speed answers for families and is especially urgent amid Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons cases.
The move comes as Northern California agencies, including Calaveras County’s 2020 cold-case task force, increasingly use newer DNA analysis to reopen long-unsolved investigations.