A North Carolina lawmaker has applauded the Senate passage of the TRACE Act, which would require the U.S. Department of Justice to add a category to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons Systems database to identify people who disappeared on federal land or U.S. territorial waters.
Senator Thom Tillis said the bipartisan bill also requires DOJ to submit an annual report to Congress on the number of cases of people reported missing on public lands or waters each year.
Every year, people go missing on public lands without being recorded in the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, and Tillis said that oversight is impeding law enforcement in search and rescue efforts.
He said adding those cases to the database could save hundreds of lives in the future.
According to a NamUs report, more than 600,000 people go missing in the United States each year, and at least 1,600 people have gone missing on public lands, though the number is likely much higher.
