NYC tapping DNA in bid to find missing loved ones

NEW YORK — For families who have searched years for missing loved ones, donating a sample of their DNA is often a last, desperate act to confirm their worst fears.

New York City’s medical examiner is leading a nationwide effort to collect genetic material and match it with unidentified human remains. It’s a way to finally give family members some answers and maybe some solace.

“People will not rest without answers, at least some answers,” said Dr. Barbara Sampson, the city’s chief medical examiner.

Over the past decade, thousands of DNA samples have been donated to the city’s medical examiner’s office. Most include swabs of saliva from close relatives, but also DNA taken from items used by the missing persons, such as toothbrushes, combs and razor blades.

They’ve led to the identification of about 50 missing people each year, all of whom had been found dead. But for many who have submitted samples, the wait continues.

“Part of you hopes they never call you, because if they call, that means it’s over,” said Rose Cobo, who submitted DNA to the program after her adult niece vanished in 2016 after being treated at a Brooklyn hospital for postpartum depression following the birth of a son. Chelsea Cobo’s whereabouts are still unknown.

The program helped end Luis Merchan’s quest to find his younger brother, Manuel, who disappeared in 2015 after he left his native Ecuador and crossed the U.S. border from Mexico. DNA matched with the remains of a 35-yearold “John Doe” who succumbed to exposure and dehydration in the Texas desert.