Mother of missing man on crusade for national DNA data bank

EDMONTON – For more than three years, Melanie Alix has been waiting for closure in the case of her son Dylan Koshman. Originally from Moose Jaw, the then 21-year-old was last seen October 2008 leaving his home in south Edmonton.

His family hasn’t given up searching for him, but his mother is now harnessing her grief into something she believes can help her and other families in similar situations finally find peace: a DNA databank which would match the genetic information of missing persons or their families with DNA from crime scenes or unidentified remains across the country.

“If Dylan was found in another province we might never know because his remains are not connected to a databank,” she explains. “And this is my greatest fear: is never having closure – as probably many other parents of missing children.” 

Alix is trying to get as many signatures as possible for a proposed bill called Lindsey’s Law, named for a 14-year-old girl who disappeared on Vancouver Island in 1993, before Conservative MP Ray Boughen of Moose Jaw takes it back to the House of Commons this spring.

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She says that since a similar data bank was introduced in the U.S. in 2003, it has reportedly helped solve more than 500 cases. Alix adds that across Canada there are probably more than 600 unidentified remains that haven’t been identified because they belong to people who were found in a different province than the one they disappeared from.

“That says a lot – we as Canadians need to step up and protect our families – that’s what we’re hoping for.”

The constables who work on Edmonton’s missing person’s cases say there are at least 80 open files in our city that date back as late as the 1950’s. They believe a national DNA data bank could help them resolve many of those.

“It’ll be the first mechanism of its kind, in Canada anyways,” says Cst. Sean Jenkinson, adding “it can bring a lot of closure to police agencies, and more importantly, to the families.”

His partner, Cst. Jim Gurney, agrees: “They would at least have the comfort that the system is in place to work for them, to try to bring their case to a resolution,” he says.

Until that system is in place, Alix says she won’t give up fighting for it.

“I’m just hopeful and I’ll never quit. I’ll never quit trying to get this bill passed.”

To sign the petition in support of passing Lindsey’s Law, click here. 

With files from Laurel Clark, Global News