Unidentified Remains
WHEN A NAME IS MISSING, THE SEARCH DOES NOT END
Information about unidentified human remains and the critical connection between unidentified persons and long-term missing-person cases across the United States.
Every unidentified person was once known to someone. They had a name, a family, a history and a life. When human remains are recovered but investigators cannot determine the person's identity, the case becomes part of a second search — the search for a name and, ultimately, the people who may have been waiting for that person to come home.
THE NATIONAL PICTURE
WHAT DOES "UNIDENTIFIED" MEAN?
Unidentified Human Remains
Unidentified remains are human remains for which investigators have not been able to establish the person's identity. The remains may be recovered under circumstances ranging from remote discoveries and accidental deaths to cases involving suspected criminal activity.
An Unidentified Person
The FBI's NCIC Unidentified Person File includes deceased unidentified persons, unidentified living persons and unidentified catastrophe victims. The file allows law-enforcement agencies to maintain identifying information that may eventually help establish a person's identity.
THE CONNECTION TO LONG-TERM MISSING PERSONS
An unidentified person and a long-term missing person can represent opposite sides of the same unresolved case. One record may describe a person whose name is known but whose location is unknown. Another may describe human remains whose identity is unknown. When information from those cases is compared, investigators may discover that they describe the same person.
Person Goes Missing
A missing-person report is created and identifying information may be entered into law-enforcement systems.
Remains Recovered
Human remains are discovered but the person's identity cannot immediately be established.
Information Compared
Investigators compare physical, dental, fingerprint, DNA and circumstantial information.
Identity Established
A confirmed identification can connect the unidentified person to a missing-person case and their family.
LONG-TERM DOES NOT MEAN FORGOTTEN
There is no single universal definition of a "long-term missing person." NamUs notes that different agencies may use different timeframes or requirements. Some agencies may consider a case long-term after a particular period has passed, while others may use different criteria.
NamUs explains that its resources primarily benefit cases that have failed to generate an investigative lead after 180 days, while also encouraging use of the program whenever circumstances indicate an immediate risk of death or injury.
WHY IDENTIFICATION MATTERS
Families Deserve Answers
Identification can finally provide a family with information about what happened to someone they have been searching for.
Investigations Can Move Forward
Establishing identity can provide investigators with a person's history, relationships and circumstances that may be essential to understanding the case.
A Missing Case Can Be Resolved
Matching unidentified remains to a missing-person record can connect two unresolved cases and restore a person's name to the record.
HOW FORENSIC SCIENCE CAN HELP
NamUs provides free forensic services and investigative support to help agencies work toward identification. These services can help create information that can be compared with missing-person records.
SOURCES & DATA REFERENCES
NamUs reports that, as of June 1, 2026, more than 15,000 active unidentified decedent cases were published in the system. NamUs also explains the relationship between unidentified decedents and long-term missing-person investigations.
View NamUs Frequently Asked Questions →NamUs publishes monthly statistics covering unresolved missing, unidentified and unclaimed person cases. The system cautions that its data does not represent every missing, unidentified or unclaimed person nationwide.
View NamUs Reports & Statistics →The FBI reported 8,546 unidentified-person records in NCIC as of December 31, 2024. During 2024, 861 unidentified-person records were entered into NCIC.
View FBI 2024 Statistics →NamUs provides a national centralized repository and resource center for missing, unidentified and unclaimed person cases and facilitates comparison and crossmatching between missing-person and unidentified remains records.
Learn More About NamUs →UNDERSTANDING THE NUMBERS
The FBI's NCIC Unidentified Person File and NamUs are separate systems with different purposes, reporting practices and case populations. Their numbers should not be added together. NamUs also cautions that its statistics do not represent every unidentified person nationwide. The figures on this page should therefore be understood as indicators of the documented national problem, not a complete count of every unidentified person or every set of unidentified remains in the United States.