Genealogy for Missing and Unidentified Persons
Community-Built Family Trees
Supporting missing persons, trees are available to investigative genetic genealogy practitioners and volunteers who are actively assisting with cases involving unidentified individuals.
Help Solve Missing Person Cases Through Genealogy
Family trees can play a meaningful role in missing-person investigations. When investigative genetic genealogists (IGGs) work to identify an unknown individual, one of the first things they examine are surnames and relationships within DNA match networks. If any of those names overlap with documented family trees for missing people, it can point them toward leads they may not have otherwise spotted.
Solve the Case's community-built family trees support that process.
When a missing individual is listed on Solve the Case and has an available family tree, IGG practitioners gain an additional tool to quickly assess potential connections. Even a single well-documented tree can help narrow possibilities and strengthen the path toward an identification.
How can you help?
By helping build or expand publicly sourced family trees for missing individuals, you give IGGs one more resource to reference during their casework. As a non-professional community member, you can contribute names, relationships, and historical details drawn from publicly available sources. All submissions are then reviewed and approved by IGG practitioners or verified family members before becoming part of the case record.
Ethical Guidelines
We ask that all research be done with sensitivity and respect:
Do not contact family members or individuals connected to the case.
Use only publicly available information and follow the Terms of Service and privacy policies of any websites, databases, or archives you consult.
No DNA is ever collected or stored on this site; all work relies solely on genealogy research and publicly sourced family tree data.
Acting responsibly protects the integrity of the investigation and honors the families and loved ones behind every case. Your contributions—handled with care—help bring answers closer.
Not into genealogy but want to help?
You can still support investigative genetic genealogy by becoming a genetic witness—sharing your commercial DNA test results so professional genealogists have more data to help reconnect unidentified individuals with their families. To learn more about how to contribute, see the GEDmatch Genetic Witness Program and Othram's DNA Solves initiative.
Complete Family Trees
Help bring missing persons home by completing family tree information. View cases with incomplete family tree data and contribute names, relationships, and historical details to help investigative genetic genealogists make connections.
Login to View CasesHow Genetic Genealogy Helps Solve Cases
DNA Analysis
Genetic genealogists use DNA databases (Gedmatch and Family Tree DNA) and family tree research to identify potential relatives of unidentified persons, helping to match them to missing person cases.
Family Tree Building
Comprehensive family trees help investigators understand relationships and bring names to the nameless by reducing the time to find the correct branches of a family tree.
Case Resolution
When the family tree of the unidentified connects to the family tree of the missing, cases are solved!
Are you a practicing investigative genetic genealogist (IGG)?
Access our specialized tools designed for IGG practitioners to help solve missing person cases through genetic genealogy.
