Expand / Collapse search
☰

New Illinois law updates guidelines for missing persons investigations

By Nic Flosi
Published  August 26, 2025 8:15am CDT
Missing Persons
FOX 32 Chicago
Special Report: How missing persons investigations work

Special Report: How missing persons investigations work

In a FOX 32 special report, Anita Padilla looks at how missing persons investigators do their jobs and all the challenges they face in real life.

The Brief

    • Illinois passed the Missing Persons Identification Act, requiring police to take immediate missing person reports and end waiting periods.
    • Law enforcement must collect and submit biometric data to national databases like NamUs if a person remains missing for 60 days.
    • The law, effective Jan. 1, 2026, was inspired by past investigative gaps and keeps cases active until resolved.

CHICAGO - Illinois will soon have new statewide rules for how police handle missing persons cases, requiring immediate reports and expanded use of federal databases.

What we know:

The Missing Persons Identification Act (SB 24), signed into law Aug. 15 by Gov. JB Pritzker, was championed by Cook County Sheriff Thomas Dart and sponsored by Sen. Michael Hastings and Rep. Debbie Meyers-Martin.

The law requires officers to immediately take a missing person report and enter it into the Law Enforcement Agencies Data System (LEADS), ending the practice of waiting periods before accepting such reports.

Agencies will also be required to:

  • Collect fingerprint and dental records, photographs, and other biometrics of the missing person and upload the information to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) if a person remains missing for 60 days.
  • Compare fingerprint records of the missing person in local, state and national databases. "This is opposed to only searching local criminal databases which limits results to those who have been involved in the criminal justice system," according to Dart.
  • Keep cases active until the missing person is found.

The backstory:

The new guidelines draw from the Cook County Sheriff's Office's experience reopening the John Wayne Gacy killings in 2011, when investigators discovered many missing persons cases were incomplete or overlooked.

That same concern led Dart to launch the Missing Persons Project in 2021. The unit uses all forensic tools and national databases such as NamUs to investigate missing women cases. So far, the unit has closed more than 40 cases.

What they're saying:

"When a loved one goes missing, time is of the essence," Dart said in a previous statement. "This bill provides a guide for law enforcement on how to respond and follow up on missing persons investigations and provide answers to family members regarding their loved one’s whereabouts."

What's next:

The new law takes effect Jan. 1, 2026.

The Source: The information in this article was provided by the Cook County Sheriff's Office.

Missing PersonsIllinois PoliticsIllinoisChicagoNews