DNA database gives hope to families of the missing

It was a hot summer afternoon when Denise Porch, resident manager of a southwest Charlotte apartment complex, left a note on her front door.

Shed gone to show an apartment to a prospective resident and would be back by 3 p.m.

That was 37 years ago. Porch hasnt been seen since.

But Diane Hill still holds out hope that she will eventually learn what happened to her sister that day in July 1975.

And she became a bit more hopeful this week after learning that police have solved the case of Priscilla Blevins, another Charlotte woman who disappeared just three weeks before Porch did. Using a national database, authorities were able to match DNA from an unidentified body to that of Blevins sister.

I have accepted that shes not coming back, Hill, now 63 and living in Davidson County, says of her sister. But youd like to have something, some type of closure. I hope some day, just like (the Blevins case), that will happen.

Increasingly, the prospects are improving for families like hers as authorities fine-tune their use of DNA to help resolve missing persons cases that once seemed unsolvable.

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department typically fields about 3,000 missing persons reports each year. About 70 percent involve juveniles 13-17 years old.

The overwhelming majority of the cases are solved quickly.

Among them: The confused senior citizen from west Charlotte who planned to drive to church some years ago, lost his way and was found a day and a half later in a car that had run out of gas in New York City.

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DNA database gives hope to families of the missing