RTI Awarded National Missing and Unidentified Persons System Contract

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. — RTI International (RTI), a nonprofit research institute, has been awarded a contract to manage the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs). This contract, funded by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), signifies the transfer of responsibility for, and management of the NamUs program to RTI later this year.

NamUs is being led by an innovative and quality-driven team within RTI’s Center for Forensic Sciences in the division for Applied Justice Research. This team has extensive experience serving the forensic community and is poised to foster growth within the NamUs program.

For more than a decade, NamUs has offered critical investigative support and free forensic services nationally. These analytical services include DNA testing, fingerprint examination, forensic anthropology, and odontology.

NamUs has helped investigators, coroners, and medical examiners solve more than 2,700 missing persons cases and identify over 2,000 decedents from their remains. RTI plans to collaborate with the country’s best forensic experts from several organizations, agencies, and institutes to serve the NamUs mission. 

RTI’s intended partners include, Bode Technology, George Mason University, Marshall University Forensic Science Center, North Carolina State University, Ron Smith & Associates, and independent forensic experts and institutes currently involved in the NamUs program. 

Through this consortium, and in close collaboration with the NIJ, RTI will combine efforts to provide forensic testing services and facilitate the resolution of missing and unidentified persons cases nationwide.

For more information on NamUs, please visit www.NamUs.gov.