ABSTRACT
The number of cases of missing and unidentified persons reposing nationwide in the files of law enforcement and coroner/medical examiner offices has been called “the nation’s silent mass disaster” (Ritter, 2007). These instances share a number of factors in common with cold case homicides. Included in these is that the true number of each is only an approximation, as many missing persons were never reported as such; many cold cases involved unidentified victims, and not all homicides are known to police.
