Missing Persons Day: Forensic experts urge families of Long Island missing people to attend special event on Tuesday

Forensic investigators in New York City are urging families from Suffolk and Nassau counties whose family members are missing to attend a special Missing Persons Day event on Tuesday in Brooklyn, the latest efforts by officials to try to find the relatives' lost loved ones.

Investigators from the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner are hosting the event to develop leads on missing persons throughout the metropolitan area, Long Island and potentially anywhere in the country, said Angela Soler, head forensic anthropologist for the office.

While OCME has primary jurisdiction over cases involving the five boroughs, the office has been solving missing persons cases of people who initially resided in Long Island but whose remains were found within city limits, Soler said.

"New York City doesn’t have borders, so people from all different areas will wind up here," she explained.

Tuesday’s event, which will take place between 10 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. in the community room at Brooklyn Borough Hall, 209 Joralemon St., is the latest among annual events taking place since 2014. Investigators are inviting families with a loved one missing more than 60 days to attend. Those who can’t attend Tuesday can call 212-323-1201 to set up a future appointment.

This latest event will be the first to occur in Brooklyn. In the past, up to 20 families have participated and a number of missing persons cases have been solved as a result, including some involving Long Islanders, officials said. Soler wouldn’t identify the families for privacy reasons.

A number of experts will be attending to help families file reports and to collect any records, DNA samples or photographs that could assist a search of OCME morgue records, Soler said.

"Cold case experts will be present, the NYPD missing persons unit will be present, as well as the OCME forensic biology staff who will be conducting interviews," according to Soler, who added that some of the staff is multilingual and translation service also will be available.

According to records prepared by the federal National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, there are currently 140 missing persons cases from Long Island — 87 in Suffolk and 53 in Nassau — numbers which are likely an underestimate because of a lag in reporting time and other factors.

Patsy Sant’Angelo, whose younger sister Audrey Chin went missing from the family home in East Norwich in 1981 at age 20, said she believes the OCME event can keep missing persons from being forgotten.

"It is very important for families," said Sant’Angelo, who now resides in New Jersey and said she plans to call the special OCME contact number.

Audrey Chin’s case, one of the oldest in Nassau County, was featured in a 2024 Newsday story.

By Anthony M. DeStefano

tony.destefano@newsday.comtonynewsday

Anthony M. DeStefano has been a reporter for Newsday since 1986 and covers law enforcement, criminal justice and legal affairs from its New York City offices.