HOUSE MEMORIAL 19

54th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2020

INTRODUCED BY

Joseph L. Sanchez

 

 

 

 

 

A MEMORIAL

DECLARING FEBRUARY 19, 2020 "MISSING AND UNIDENTIFIED PERSONS DAY" IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

 

     WHEREAS, to assist in the effort to locate and identify missing and unidentified persons, within thirty days the department of public safety is now required by the Mark Daniel Aguilar information sharing requirement of the Missing Persons Information and Reporting Act to share the following information with the national missing and unidentified persons system created by the United States department of justice's national institute of justice:

          A. all information in the missing persons information clearinghouse; and

          B. all information the department receives pursuant to the Missing Persons Information and Reporting Act regarding the identification and location of missing and unidentified persons or human remains; and

     WHEREAS, the Mark Daniel Aguilar information sharing requirement became effective on June 14, 2019; and

     WHEREAS, in addition, public notice required pursuant to the Missing Persons and Information Reporting Act was expanded by 2019 Senate Bill 42 to include a "silver alert" when a person suffering from dementia or Alzheimer's disease goes missing, regardless of the age of the missing person; and

     WHEREAS, the bill also clarifies the responsibilities of the various agencies and cellular service companies involved in the notice process; and

     WHEREAS, there are currently over seven hundred fifty-six active missing persons cases and one hundred eighteen unidentified persons cases in New Mexico that have been successfully shared and imported into the national missing and unidentified persons system as of December 31, 2019; and

     WHEREAS, the national missing and unidentified persons system has seventeen thousand one hundred twenty-four missing persons and thirteen thousand one hundred thirty-six unidentified persons entered into the national database; and

     WHEREAS, the national crime information center as of December 2018 contained eighty-five thousand four hundred fifty-nine active missing persons records; and

     WHEREAS, the national missing and unidentified persons system is a nationwide information clearinghouse for missing, unidentified and unclaimed persons cases across the United States that provides resources to law enforcement, medical examiners, coroners, allied forensic professionals and family members of missing persons; and

     WHEREAS, missing persons cases affect people of every age, race, religion, socioeconomic status, gender and social and cultural background, changing the dynamic of a family in an instant; and

     WHEREAS, few circumstances are more devastating to a family than the unknown whereabouts or fate of a loved one;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that February 19, 2020 be declared "Missing and Unidentified Persons Day" in the house of representatives; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that recognition be extended to all missing and unidentified persons and to the many families of missing persons that endure ambiguous loss; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that New Mexicans recognize those families affected by a loved one's disappearance and continue to keep missing persons a priority; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this memorial be transmitted to the secretary of public safety.

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