DNA testing on human remains found gives family in McKinley County closure
By Darlene Melendez
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MCKINLEY COUNTY, N.M. (KOAT) — For months, Henry Silva III’s family had no answers, only questions, after his wife reported him missing to the McKinley County Sheriff’s Office on July 19, 2023. Silva’s wife contacted the sheriff’s office about a week later, expressing concern that she hadn’t seen him, which was out of the ordinary.
When human remains were found, the state couldn’t afford to test them, according to McKinley County Sheriff James Maiorano III. “We had difficulty through the office of the medical investigator. They did not have the funding that was required to do the familiar DNA for us, and so we had to seek outside resources,” Maiorano said.
A grant from the University of North Texas, specifically for Indigenous cases, finally provided Silva’s family with closure. Maiorano explained the challenges investigators face, saying, “It’s very difficult on our investigators to be able to close out these cases when results can be 12 to 18, maybe as far out as 24, months out to get results.”
In New Mexico, DNA testing for non-criminal cases doesn’t go through the state crime lab but rather the office of the medical investigator, which Maiorano said lacks resources to conduct the testing. “The funding is number one. We need the funding to be able to do DNA comparisons,” he said, adding that the speed of obtaining results is also crucial for providing answers to families.
Maiorano emphasized the emotional toll on families waiting for updates, stating, “Just hanging in the balance, trying to wonder what happened to your loved one is a terrible feeling.”
The sheriff’s office is now collaborating with the New Mexico Department of Justice to reopen other unsolved cases using DNA. “They actually reached out to us with funding they’ve received,” Maiorano said. “I believe we sent off two or maybe three cases to the DOJ already this year for assistance.”
These partnerships, Maiorano said, could lead to faster results and provide families with the answers they deserve when they deserve them.
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