43.410. Coroner to furnish fingerprints and dental records of certain deceased to highway patrol--duties of patrol--medical and dental records of missing child to be furnished to patrol.

MISSOURI STATUTES AND CODES

43.410. Coroner to furnish fingerprints and dental records of certain deceased to highway patrol--duties of patrol--medical and dental records of missing child to be furnished to patrol.

Coroner to furnish fingerprints and dental records of certaindeceased to highway patrol--duties of patrol--medical and dentalrecords of missing child to be furnished to patrol.

43.410. 1. Every county coroner or medical examinerpromptly shall furnish the Missouri state highway patrol withcopies of fingerprints on standardized fingerprint cards,personal descriptions and other identifying data, including dateand place of death, of all deceased persons whose deaths are in aclassification requiring inquiry by the coroner or medicalexaminer where the deceased is not identified or the coroner ormedical examiner is not satisfied with the decedent'sidentification. In any case where it is not physically possibleto furnish prints of the ten fingers of the deceased, prints orpartial prints of any fingers with other identifying data shallbe forwarded by the county coroner or medical examiner to thehighway patrol.

2. In addition to the foregoing provisions of this section,the county coroner or medical examiner shall cause a dentist tocarry out a dental examination of the deceased. The coroner ormedical examiner shall forward the dental records to the Missouristate highway patrol on a form supplied by the highway patrol forsuch purpose.

3. The Missouri state highway patrol shall compare thefingerprints received from the county coroner or medical examinerto fingerprints on file with the Missouri state highway patrol orwith other law enforcement agencies for purposes of attempting todetermine the identity of the deceased. Other descriptive datasupplied with the fingerprints shall also be compared to recordsconcerning missing persons. The highway patrol shall submit theresults of the comparisons to the appropriate coroner or medicalexaminer and if a tentative or positive identification is made,to the law enforcement authority which submitted the report ofthe missing person.

4. When any person makes a report of a missing child to alaw enforcement authority, the authority shall request a memberof the family or next of kin of the missing child to authorizethe release of the medical and dental records of the personreported missing to the law enforcement agency making the initialreport and to the Missouri state highway patrol.

5. The Missouri state highway patrol shall compare thedental records received from the coroner or medical examiner todental records of missing children on file with the highwaypatrol or other law enforcement agency. The department shallsubmit the results of the comparison to the coroner or medicalexaminer and if a tentative or positive identification is made,to the law enforcement authority which submitted the report ofthe missing child.