Melanie Alix is hoping a new petition being brought before the House of Commons this month may provide her family with closure and fill a gaping hole in the Canadian criminal justice system.
Alix’s son, Dylan Koshman, was 21 years old when he left home and vanished in October 2008 after reportedly getting into an argument with his cousins in Edmonton.
“When Dylan went missing they took samples of mine and my husband’s DNA, but it was only in (Edmonton) and it takes a long time to identify, that’s the scary part,” said Alix, whose family is originally from Moose Jaw.
She noted the samples they had given were not accessible to law enforcement agencies in other provinces for identification purposes.
Alix has been a major proponent of Lindsey’s Law, which would establish a national DNA databank of missing persons to be used by law enforcement agencies nationwide.
It would help them identify people by matching DNA samples provided by relatives to unidentified human remains.
The proposed bill will be brought to the House of Commons on Jan. 29 by Conservative MP Ray Boughen of Moose Jaw. It was named for Lindsey Nichols, a 14-year-old girl who was last seen walking down a rural road on Vancouver Island in 1993.
Alix has helped to collect thousands of signatures online and across Saskatchewan and Edmonton in support of the proposed bill.
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“We want this passed, that would be great … the government has set aside funding for this but won’t commit to getting it started,” she said.
Phyllis Hallatt, president of Child Find Saskatchewan, said 50,000 persons were reported missing in Canada in 2009.
“Anything that will help locate a missing person or help people answer for whatever crimes they have done we are in favour of,” Hallatt said.
The RCMP is starting its own initiative this year, in co-operation with different law enforcement agencies across Canada, that would allow them to share missing persons investigations, but without the crucial DNA component.
“We’re one of many law enforcement agencies participating with the RCMP, driving an initiative for a national centre for missing persons and unidentified remains,” said Const. Jim Gurney of the Missing Persons Unit of the Edmonton Police Service.
Gurney said police could compare cases and search for information within this program, as well as provide public access through a website with nationwide information on missing persons.
“There has been a lot of co-operation across the country as far as fixing up the whole issue of different jurisdictions and unidentified human remains, but there has got to be a better way of comparing and concluding,” he said.
“Without the capability of a DNA database for missing persons, there is a huge component that is missing now.”
A similar DNA database for missing persons has been in place in the United States since 2003 and was amalgamated into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), which allows law enforcement agencies to search the database for suspects and victims.
The American database has reportedly matched more than 500 missing people to DNA samples.
“It should be in place,” said Alix. “They have unidentified remains dating back to the 1950s and to me that is so sad that for that long the person can’t be put to rest and for the families that suffer through the whole ordeal.”
She said it’s estimated there are 600 unidentified human remains in morgues and cemeteries across Canada.
“If you solve 10 of them, isn’t that worth something for the 10 families?
“To me that is peace and closure we can’t get. You don’t know what that means unless you’ve experienced this.”
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