Woman with missing father hopes Clark County Coroner’s event will provide closure
LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) - There are hundreds of missing and unidentified people in Nevada, and the Clark County Coroner is hoping a new type of event will help generate leads for those cases.
Families with missing loved ones in our state and across state lines are encouraged to attend “Missing In Nevada Day.”
Jodi Rodriquez is planning on going. She says she and her family last saw her father in 1992 in Las Vegas.
“He left the house one day and never came home,” she says. “I just want to get closure for my family and myself. It was a lot of trauma that we went through.”
More than 30 years later, Rodriquez is still searching for that closure, not only for herself, but for her mother.
“That is what she told me on her deathbed, to just keep trying for him, don’t give up hope, because nobody else is, I’m the only one,” she says.
According to Clark County Coroner Melanie Rouse, there are more than 200 missing and more than 300 unidentified individuals in the state of Nevada alone.
“We want to provide them with a name, we want to be able to tell their families what happened to them,” Rouse says.
She is encouraging families with missing loved ones to bring photographs, medical and dental records, and fingerprints to the event. There will also be opportunities for family members to provide DNA samples.
“Making that ID is taking that information we’ve collected on our end, and comparing that from information when they are alive,” Rouse says.
They’ll also have posters up throughout the event with information about unidentified individuals, with the hope a composite or possession catches a loved ones’ eye.
“I just want to see if there’s any new information I can give them, just to bring the case back to life,” Rodriguez says.
Rodriguez says she has given up hope her father will be found alive, but she wants to know what happened to him, and is hoping her story will encourage others to search for answers of their own.
“Just don’t give up hope, just keep looking,” Rodriguez says.
The “Missing in Nevada Day” event will be held on Saturday, February 1, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Clark County Government Center.
Families who cannot attend can still provide information by emailing MissingInNevada@ClarkCountyNV.gov.
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