DES MOINES, Iowa — A recent monthly audit of the case of a missing woman from 2011 led Des Moines Police Department detectives and employees to resolving a case that had been cold for more than a decade.
The department just announced the news Tuesday that the 54-year-old woman reported missing in 2011 was found alive in Nebraska. The DMPD said that during a trip to southern Iowa, the woman and her partner became separated and the family never saw her again. The partner eventually returned to South Carolina, where the couple originally came from, after there was no indication where she had gone. Police didn’t have enough information in 2011 to find the woman, and there was no indication that a crime had occurred relating to her disappearance. The woman’s information was entered into the nationwide missing person database.
Every month, the department has scheduled audits of missing persons cases, wanted individuals, stolen cars, etc. Just recently during one of those audits, a detective and an investigative assistant were able to follow a trail through several states, thanks to new advancements in technology.
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“There’s a lot more resources available to us now to try and track people down, you know, databases that weren’t there in 2011,” said Sergeant Paul Parizek with the Des Moines Police Department said. “And she and our intelligence analysts were able to start tracking this person.”…