BCA effort underway to ID dozens of human remains

MINNEAPOLIS - The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said Thursday it is asking family members of missing persons to provide DNA samples as part of an effort to identify at least 100 sets of human remains, with the goal of bringing missing loved ones back home.

The BCA said many of the unidentified remains were discovered decades ago, before DNA testing was in the picture. More sensitive technology available today allows scientists to extract DNA from these older remains, or remains that are in poor condition.

The samples will be entered into an FBI DNA index, where they can be compared with family member samples from across the country. But Catherine Knutson, the laboratory director for BCA's Forensic Science Services, said the effort won't work unless family members give samples.

"We need families to come forward — no matter how long ago their loved one went missing," Knutson said.

The remains being tested as part of this 18-month project were found in Minnesota from the 1970s to the 1990s.

"I am so thrilled the BCA is doing this, because every one of those unidentified persons has family members, and every person has a right to know what happened to their family member," said Susan Pagnac, whose daughter Amy Sue Pagnac went missing in 1989.

Amy was 13 when she disappeared from a gas station in Osseo. She was waiting for her father in a car while he went into the bathroom, and when he came out she was gone. Susan Pagnac, of Maple Grove, said her daughter had a medical condition that caused her to become disoriented, and she may have wandered off and been picked up by someone.

"Neither my husband nor I have seen anything that says that Amy is dead, so without seeing anything that says she is dead, I have to assume that she is alive and just waiting for somebody to rescue her," she said.

Authorities said testing of family members will include a swab of the inside of one's cheek, and samples would be used only for this database — not for law enforcement purposes. Family members would also be asked to provide items that might hold the DNA of a missing person, such as a toothbrush, if they have them.

Authorities say they have at least 100 sets of unidentified human remains so far, but they believe there are more. The BCA will continue to contact medical examiners for additional remains. According to the National Institute of Justice, 40,000 sets of unidentified remains are held in medical examiners' offices across the nation.

The BCA says there are currently 167 Minnesotans who have been missing for more than a year.

Pagnac, Amy's mother, said she provided DNA to authorities some time ago in hopes of finding her daughter.

"Knowing is good — but it's not what you want," she said. "I can assure you — nobody wants that."

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Family members of missing persons are asked to contact the Minnesota Missing & Unidentified Persons Clearinghouse to get the testing started. The contact is: Kris Rush, kris.rush(at)state.mn.us, or (651) 793-1118.

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