Published: Tuesday, May 23, 2006
VANCOUVER - Lindsey Jill Nicholls' remains may be among about
300 unidentified sets sitting in Canada's morgues. Her family
has no way of knowing, but her mom is determined to change
that with ''Lindsey's Law.''
''Lindsey could be sitting in a coroner's office anywhere
across Canada and I would never know,'' said Peterson, who
lives near Victoria.
Peterson has been lobbying the federal government to add
missing persons and found human remains DNA indices to the
National DNA Data Bank for several years.
Lindsey was 14 years old when she disappeared and was last
seen walking down a rural road near Courtenay, on Vancouver
Island, on Aug. 2, 1993.
After hearing that the remains of a teenage girl matching
Lindsey's physical description were found in Hope, east of
Vancouver in the Fraser Valley, on April 8, Peterson had a
''knee-jerk reaction'' and called the investigators.
''Every time I hear about found human remains I have to check
if it's Lindsey,'' Peterson said.
The remains were identified last week as those of another
14-year-old girl, Chelsey Kayla Dawn Acorn.
It took over a month to identify Chelsey, after 64 files
of missing girls across the country were revisited.
Lindsey's Law would greatly reduce the amount of time and
resources spent on identifying human remains, Peterson said.
It was on the seventh anniversary of Lindsey's disappearance
the day she could be declared legally deceased that Peterson
learned missing persons and found human remains indices do
not exist.
''I wanted to give my DNA to help find Lindsey, but I was
told there was nowhere to put it,'' Peterson said. ''I absolutely
could not believe it.''
Peterson said Lindsey's Law would be a critical tool in helping
grieving families find missing persons or give them closure
on a tragedy.
The indices that Peterson is proposing would be linked to
the existing Crime Scene Index (CSI).
Family members of missing persons would be able to submit
DNA samples to help find their loved ones.
The DNA of unidentified human remains would be checked against
the missing persons index and hits would identify the remains.
Comparison against the CSI could also identify unknown samples
found at crime scenes.
''I want to know if Lindsey has been the victim of a violent
crime,'' Peterson said.
If Lindsey's DNA is found in the CSI and the crime scene
is linked to an offender, another piece of the puzzle is complete.
''We'll know who's responsible,'' Peterson said.
Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn introduced the proposed
legislation in May 2003, after the issue was brought to his
attention by Peterson. He affectionately named the bill ''Lindsey's
Law'' and the name has stuck.
Lunn couldn't drum up enough support for the first bill or
the second one he introduced last year.
A missing persons registry is part of the Conservative policy
and Ontario MP Mike Wallace introduced a third bill to amend
the DNA Identification Act on May 12.
Peterson hopes the third time's a charm.
But naysayers cite privacy, moral, legal and logistical concerns.
''There was sympathy and support for what Mr. Lunn was proposing
in principal,'' said Michael Zigayer of the Justice Department,
who originally spoke out against Lindsey's Law.
''But there were a lot of legal and practical issues that
needed to be looked at in greater detail.''
William Davidson, a professor at Simon Fraser University
and a member of the National DNA Data Bank Advisory Committee,
said the caveats for the use of the proposed indices can easily
be put into place.
''Canada is the DNA leader,'' he said. ''It is known for
pushing the technology and how it handles the DNA data bank.
(Lindsey's Law) is the next logical step.''
Davidson added that creating a missing persons index could
be done with the click of a button the existing data bank
is already programmed to be compatible with a missing persons
index.
For Peterson, working on Lindsey's Law is therapeutic. ''It's
been really good for me,'' she said. ''I feel like I'm acknowledging
Lindsey in some way.
''Once this is in place, it may not find Lindsey, but we're
going to find some kids and some parents will get closure.
That's what I'm really looking forward to.''
rainadelisle@png.canwest.com
Vancouver Province
© CanWest News Service 2006 |
