Lindsey’s Law

Families of some missing people could get answers they are seeking thanks to new rules that were pushed by an Island woman. The federal government announced Monday it would change the rules of the National DNA Data Bank, allowing it to include DNA from missing people.

The changes to the DNA Identification Act have been called Lindsey’s Law in recognition of Lindsey Jill Nicholls of the Comox Valley, who disappeared in August 1993. Lindsey’s mother, Judy Peterson, has lobbied for 18 years to get the changes made.

Peterson, who now lives in Sidney, hopes the changes will help as many people as possible. For those whose loved ones have vanished, the new tool could answer questions that haunt them, even if the answers turn out to be heartbreaking.

The DNA data bank has focused on storing the DNA of convicted offenders and that found at crime scenes. Matching the two can lead police to a suspect.

Under the new rules, the bank will also include DNA from missing people, their relatives, victims of crime and anyone else who wants to help a case.

The samples can be compared with those found at crime scenes.

It seems like an obvious use of the technology, but even with good intentions, many hurdles delayed the implementation. For instance, coroners are provincial officials, while the data bank is a federal responsibility.

Lindsey disappeared 25 years ago this year, and many other families have lived years or decades not knowing what happened to their loved ones.

The expanded data bank won’t solve all those mysteries, but it might bring answers to some people who desperately want them.