Maine lacks a comprehensive missing persons list, so we made one

The Maine State Police do not maintain a comprehensive database of all missing people in the state. (Photo by StockSeller_ukr/Getty Images)

No state agency in Maine maintains a publicly available list of all people reported missing to local law enforcement agencies across the state, so we made one.

Maine State Police do have a list of missing persons, but it is limited to cases where foul play was suspected in their disappearance, according to Lt. Thomas Pickering, who heads the unsolved homicides unit.

There are currently only 36 people on the state police’s list. But according to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons Search (or NamUs), there are 148 missing people in Maine.

That means there are more than 100 people reported missing according to a national government database that Maine does not list.

Maine Morning Star collected data from the national database to build a searchable missing persons list. It includes all 148 people the national government declared missing in Maine. 

On Monday, state police opposed a new bill that would require them to maintain a comprehensive, publicly available missing persons list.

Currently, state law designates the Office of Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) as the clearinghouse for all missing people in the state. But in lieu of maintaining a statewide list, Maine relies on the NamUs database.

When someone is reported missing to a local police department or sheriff’s office, they are expected to send those details to the medical examiner’s office. However, the medical examiner’s office administrator, Lindsay Chasteen, said that reporting is not enforced. 

That means the OCME often finds out about a missing person from the news or social media. 

The absence of a list combined with the inconsistent reporting of missing persons makes it more likely that the burden to lead search efforts is put on families, said Maine Rep. Nina Milliken (D-Blue Hill), who introduced legislation Monday that would require Maine State Police to maintain a full list.