Padilla, Tillis Applaud Senate Passage of Bipartisan Bill to Help Find Missing Persons on Federal Land
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) applauded the Senate’s passage of their Tracking and Reporting Absent Community-Members Everywhere (TRACE) Act. The TRACE Act is a bipartisan, bicameral bill that requires the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to add a new category to the existing National Missing and Unidentified Persons Systems (NamUs) database so that the public and law enforcement can denote cases where a person went missing or was identified on federal land or U.S. territorial waters — including the specific location details of the incident.
The TRACE Act also requires the DOJ to submit an annual report to Congress on the number of persons who went missing or were suspected of going missing on public lands or territorial waters in the previous year. By improving public and law enforcement access to this information, the bill aims to strengthen national records and help families and agencies locate missing individuals more effectively.
“For too long, law enforcement officials have faced unnecessary barriers in tracking down people who go missing on federal lands,” said Senator Padilla. “The Senate’s passage of the TRACE Act brings us one step closer to saving lives and bringing peace of mind to affected families. I’m committed to working with my colleagues across the aisle to make sure this bill is signed into law.”
“Every year, people go missing on public lands without being recorded in the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System,” said Senator Tillis. “This oversight is impeding law enforcement from keeping track of those who go missing to help search and rescue efforts. I applaud the Senate for passing this bipartisan, bicameral legislation so these cases can be added to the database and potentially save hundreds of lives in the future, and I urge my colleagues in the House to swiftly pass this critical legislation to ensure no missing person falls through the cracks.”
Each year, over 600,000 people are reported missing in the United States. While most cases are resolved, tens of thousands remain unsolved each year. The federal government manages approximately 640 million acres of land, including national parks, national forests, and Bureau of Land Management lands.
Estimates suggest that at least 1,600 people have gone missing on public lands, though the true number is likely much higher. Isolated or rugged terrain, limited cell coverage, and underreporting make it especially difficult to track these cases. Yet there is no functional system to identify when someone has gone missing on public lands, making coordinated search and rescue operations even harder.
NamUs is the primary system used by law enforcement, medical examiners, coroners, families, and the public to report and access information about missing persons and unidentified remains. The TRACE Act strengthens this tool by ensuring location-specific data on public lands is captured and made available.
The TRACE Act is endorsed by the Public Lands Solution, Jewish Women’s Institute, Major County Sheriffs Association, Association of State Criminal Investigative Agencies (ASCIA), NDAA, Raven, National Association to End Sexual Violence, and the Outdoor Industry Association.
Full text of the bill is available here.
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