Riviera Maya, Q.R. — The state of Quintana Roo is taking DNA samples from families with known missing persons. The samples will be integrated into Mexico’s National Forensic Data Bank.
María López Urbina, the Commissioner for the Search for Missing Persons of Quintana Roo, said the state has begun to take DNA from these family members to help identify missing persons.
She said people from across the country come to Quintana Roo to work, which in many cases, complicates identification of a locally found body when family members live elsewhere and cannot travel.
She says the data collected will help relatives know whether or not bodies found in the state are those of their family. The DNA will be available to all FGE agencies across the country.
“Forensic genetic samples are taken to be stored in a bank so that they can be made available in the forensic centers of the prosecutor’s offices throughout the country,” she said.
López Urbina said when skeletal remains are found, families with known missing persons can then request a DNA match to determine the identity of the body.
She said the state is also working on creating a forensic album in coordination with the FGE, “so that relatives, when they come to the state, can see the album because perhaps one of their relatives may be inside the forensic medical office,” she explained.
The newly created Banco Nacional de Datos Forenses (National Forensic Data Bank) operates in coordination with other databases such as the National Registry of Unidentified and Unclaimed Deceased Persons, the National Registry of Mass and Clandestine Graves and the National Exhumations and Forensic Identification Program.
As of May 28, 2023, according to Senado de la República, the state of Jalisco has the most reported missing persons cases with 109,516.
