Putting a name to a face

Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2008 | 2:08 a.m.

In 2003 Clark County Coroner Mike Murphy started putting basic details of cases involving unidentified people on the Internet along with pictures of the individuals, their tattoos and their clothing or other possessions. Despite the fact that pictures are used only when deemed appropriate, some in law enforcement complained, calling it gruesome.

Those critics have since been silenced. As Abigail Goldman reported in Sunday’s Las Vegas Sun, the coroner’s office has identified 29 people through the Internet.

Identifying the dead can be difficult in Las Vegas because, Murphy says, people come here from all over, sometimes to hide or to die. But it is important they be identified. About half of the unidentified are homicide victims, and determining a victim’s identity is a key to solving a crime. In addition, there are friends or family members wondering what happened.

Investigator Rick Jones noted a case in which he was able to identify a man who committed suicide. The man had a criminal conviction for molesting his three daughters and had threatened his daughters and their children once he got out of prison. The daughters split up and agreed not to communicate with one another, fearing their father would find them.

Jones was able to track down two of the three daughters to tell them they didn’t have to worry anymore.

Federal officials are putting together a national database that will be similar to Clark County’s, allowing people to search coroners’ cases and missing persons cases for information.

Efforts such as these deserve support, as they help provide justice for victims and a sense of closure for those who knew them.