In 1980, 18-year-old Michelle Busha left her home and never returned. But her remains weren’t identified for another three decades. Meet two women who didn’t know each other, yet spent years seeking answers in Michelle’s disappearance.
Left for Dead
Inside America’s coldest cases
Posted inCriminal Justice, Left for Dead
The code for cracking cold cases
We created a new Web tool – using information from the NamUs database – in order to make it easier to match missing and unidentified people . Senior data editor Jennifer LaFleur explains how it works.
Posted inCriminal Justice, Left for Dead
She never left Harlan alive
In 1969, a young woman was stabbed to death in Harlan, Kentucky, and buried without a name. Local authorities undertook an exhumation last November in hopes of identifying the victim known only as “Mountain Jane Doe.” But the results were surprising.
Posted inCriminal Justice, Left for Dead
Left for dead: How America fails the missing and unidentified
Law enforcement agencies have let solvable cold cases languish despite forensic science advances and a federal database that includes information on 10,000 people found deceased without an identity in the United States.
Posted inCriminal Justice, Left for Dead
What to do when someone goes missing
Families can wait for decades without knowing what happened to their missing loved ones. Taking these steps may improve the odds of finding them.
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FAQ: Tips on using our searchable database
Looking for a missing person? Check out this FAQ on using our new database, The Lost & The Found.
Posted inCriminal Justice, Left for Dead
How we analyzed the data on the unidentified dead
For its investigation, Left for Dead, Reveal examined information collected from the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, which contains more than 10,000 unidentified cases across the U.S.
Posted inCriminal Justice, Left for Dead
Searchable database: The Lost & The Found
Federal data tracks thousands of unsolved missing persons cases and unidentified bodies. Use our Web tool to search for potential matches.