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Fort Myers Police To Host Missing Person's Day

Fort Myers Police Department Facebook Page

The Fort Myers Police Department has partnered with local and state law enforcement agencies to host a Missing Person’s Day this upcoming weekend.

The event is the first of its kind to be held in Lee county. FMPD Sergeant Lesa Breneman said the idea was inspired by law enforcement efforts in other Florida cities in the state to try and identify unknown remains.

"Maybe some of our unidentified missing are just never reported missing persons," Breneman said. "So we wanted to have a day, and a place, and a time where we had everybody together at once to help these families out."

The Lee county Sheriff’s Department, the Cape Coral Police Department and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement will be joined by two national missing person’s organizations.

Breneman said the organizations, The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, are a helpful long-term resource for missing peeople.

"They keep a database of not only the DNA of skeletal remains, but they will compare for family connections with  anyone who believes that their missing person could be one of the skeletal remains that we've found," Breneman said. 

The agencies will be collecting DNA samples, dental and medical records and updated photographs during the event as well as taking new reports of missing people.

The event will be held Saturday, July 27 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the cafeteria of Fort Myers High School.

Andrea Perdomo is a reporter for WGCU News. She started her career in public radio as an intern for the Miami-based NPR station, WLRN. Andrea graduated from Florida International University, where she was a contributing writer for the student-run newspaper, The Panther Press, and was also a member of the university's Society of Professional Journalists chapter.