§15-3D-1. Short Title
This article shall be known and may be cited as the Missing Persons Act.
§15-3D-2. Findings
The Legislature finds that: (1) The ability of law-enforcement agencies to rapidly respond in the hours following the discovery that an individual is missing is a crucial factor in the likelihood that the person will ultimately be located and recovered. The prompt communication of detailed information to the public through emergency broadcast systems and media […]
§15-3D-3. Definitions
For the purposes of this article: (1) “CODIS” means the Federal Bureau of Investigations Combined DNA Index System, which allows for the storage and exchange of DNA records submitted by federal, state, and local forensic DNA laboratories. The term “CODIS” includes the National DNA Index System or NDIS, administered and operated by the Federal Bureau […]
§15-3D-4. Missing Persons Complaints; Law-Enforcement Procedures
(a) Complaint requirements. A person may file a missing persons complaint with any law-enforcement agency having jurisdiction. The law-enforcement agency shall attempt to collect the following information from a complainant and, as soon as thereafter as is practicable, shall then furnish the information to the West Virginia State Police: (1) The missing persons name;
§15-3D-5. Missing Persons Investigation Requirements
(a) A law-enforcement agency may not delay an investigation of a missing persons complaint on the basis of a written or unwritten policy requiring that a certain period of time pass after any event, including the receipt of a complaint, before an investigation may commence; and shall commence an active investigation immediately upon receipt of […]
§15-3D-6. Reporting and Handling of Unidentified Human Remains
(a) If a law-enforcement officer or other official discovers or comes into custody of unidentified human remains, the officer or official shall immediately notify the office of the Chief Medical Examiner of the location of those remains. After a law-enforcement agency performs an appropriate death scene investigation with the assistance of the Chief Medical Examiner […]
§15-3D-7. Identification of Human Remains
(a) The Chief Medical Examiner or county medical examiner, whichever is applicable, shall make reasonable attempts to promptly identify unidentified human remains, by: (1) Taking photographs of the human remains, prior to an autopsy;
§15-3D-8. Filing a False Missing Persons Complaint; Criminal Penalties
A person who knowingly and willfully files a false missing persons complaint is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than $25 nor more than $200, or confined in jail for five days, or both fined and confined.
§15-3D-9. Missing and Endangered Child Advisory System; Definitions; Rule-Making Authority
(a) There is hereby created an advisory system, referred to in this section as the “system”, to aid in the identification and location of missing and endangered children. (b) “Missing and Endangered Child Advisory” means a system used to alert the public of a missing and endangered child to aid in the childs rapid recovery. […]