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DeKalb County missing persons event targets cold cases
A specialized DeKalb County task force organized a community database collection drive Sunday to solve old cases and identify human remains.
DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. - The DeKalb County Cold Case Task Force hosted its fourth annual missing persons and DNA event Sunday in Avondale Estates to gather DNA samples and help families of missing people find answers.
What we know:
A coalition of law enforcement agencies from across the Atlanta metro area gathered in Avondale Estates on Sunday for the fourth annual missing persons and DNA event.
The DeKalb County Medical Examiner's Office currently has 15 unidentified human remains in its care, with renderings of the individuals displayed to help people reclaim their names.
"That number fluctuates from year to year because it's sort of a two steps forward, one step back," Director Beoncia Loveless said. "You get someone identified, but you find new remains, and so it's always in flux."
What they're saying:
DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston explained that families attending the event could show up, ask questions, file a report, and provide DNA samples. These samples create a link in the system when remains are recovered.
Investigators said they have already successfully named 17 individuals since the task force launched in 2022.
"We had a young woman come in last year to our event and submit DNA and found her mother because of that," Loveless said. "Her mother had been missing since 2012. It turns out that her remains were recovered in Clayton County, Georgia, in 2016."
The oldest unidentified human remains in the county's care belong to a man found in August 1987.
Donna Green, who started the Raymond Green International Outreach of Hope after her son Raymond was abducted when he was 5 days old, attended the event and shared that 47 years later, she believes DNA is the only way she will find him.
"With the DNA, that's hope. I mean, that's real hope because that DNA is going to reach places that you could never go," Green said.
Big picture view:
Members of the DeKalb County Cold Case Task Force said they are committed to working tirelessly to identify every person.
Boston emphasized the broader impact of the task force, stating, "We want to name every victim because every person deserves an end of life, to be celebrated by their family and to be named."
The Source: The information in this story was gathered by FOX 5's Rey Llerena, who interviewed DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston, Beoncia Loveless, the director of the DeKalb County Medical Examiner's Office, and non-profit founder Donna Green.