Missing in Michigan comes to GR

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - As many as 100,000 people are currently missing in the United States, according to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System ( NamUs).

NamUs will join local and federal law enforcement agencies on Saturday in hopes of connecting families with their missing loved ones.

The second annual Missing in Michigan event, the state's missing persons day, will take place 2-7 p.m. at DeVos place in downtown Grand Rapids.

Representatives with the local FBI office, Grand Rapids Police Department, Michigan State Police, and Kent County Sheriff's Department will be on hand to help families of those missing by taking tips and updating their cases.

NamUs is a free web-based tool that anyone can use, along with law enforcement and medical examiners, to assist in solving missing persons cases in the United States.

As of November 2011 there are more than 8,400 unidentified persons records in the NamUs database, along with more than 9,000 missing persons records.

There are currently 51 children in Michigan missing, according to the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children.

Saturday's event is a campaign to raise awareness of the issues and impacts surrounding missing persons in Michigan.

At the event last year, held in Detroit, four families were reunited with their missing loved ones.

Those who attend the Grand Rapids event looking for information on their loved ones are asked to bring photographs, dental records and radiographs (X-rays) to update the digital database.