How you can help
You may be able to help us identify America’s missing heros. If you are a family member of an individual who is Missing in Action, we may be able to use a sample of your DNA to help us with our identification process. However, we do not need a sample from just any family member – we can only use samples from family members who share the same mtDNA as the missing service member. Mitochondrial DNA is only passed on through the maternal line.

Anyone can help by selecting a casualty (perhaps from your home town, home state or a man that served in the same unit as you), and researching their family history to determine if there are living relatives who might be FRS donors. Click here for a list of Family Reference Samples (FRS) required by JPAC.

Who can donate
The type of DNA we use to identify individuals is inherited only from the mother. This means that each person’s mother, as well as brothers, sisters, sister’s children and many other relatives share the same kind of mtDNA. This is useful because it means that mtDNA from relatives (sometimes quite distant ones) can be directly compared to mtDNA from unidentified remains. The downside is that children of a missing male cannot provide an mtDNA reference sample. The sex of the missing person and the donor are irrelevant. In a family tree linking the donor to the missing person, every intermediate person linking the donor to the missing person must be a female.

A powerful tool
While mtDNA testing does not uniquely identify an individual like a fingerprint or other kinds of DNA testing, it does help us determine if an individual is related to surviving relatives. Combined with other evidence that we gather, this is a powerful tool that we use to identify the remains that we find. You might wonder why we can’t quickly identify an individual from a DNA sample like forensic scientists do on TV. The short answer is that we would need a pre-existing sample of DNA from all the missing individuals we are trying to identify – and DNA samples were not routinely collected from our service men and women until the Gulf War.

Call for more information
We understand that this can be confusing. If you think you may be a suitable donor or you have any questions, all you need to do is contact a Department of Defense service casualty office for assistance. If you know people who are relatives of service members who are still missing in action, you can help by passing this information along.

Privacy assured
If you donate a sample of your mitochondrial DNA, you can rest assured that it will only be used for the purposes of assisting remains identification and will not be used for any other purpose or be released to other government agencies or any other organizations.  

JPAC Family Reference Sample (FRS) Brochure Note: This is a large file and may take a while to download.

Every cell contains both nuclear and mitochondrial DNA. Nuclear DNA is found within the nucleus of the cell and is composed of two sources of DNA: the egg and the sperm. This type of DNA defines us as individuals and is most often used in forensic or paternity cases. The nuclear DNA of a forensic specimen from a crime scene is compared to a specimen from a suspect to see how similar they are. In terms of a paternity suit, the nuclear DNA of the child is compared to the nuclear DNA from the father to see if the father contributed to the child's DNA.

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is contained in the mitochondria of the cell. The mitochondria are organelles located outside the nucleus in the cytoplasm of the cell. These organelles are responsible for energy transfer and are basically the "powerhouses" of the cells. The CIL uses this form of DNA because it preserves well in bones and many of the casualties that we are attempting to identify do not have blood samples on file (unlike the modern military). This form of DNA is in short strands and therefore does not mutate or change form very quickly - it is relatively stable and can be compared across several generations. Mitochondrial DNA is only passed along the maternal line - so if we want to compare a sample from a casualty individual we have to obtain a blood sample from the mother or any of the siblings who would share the same sequence of mtDNA as the mother. If nieces or nephews were to contribute DNA samples, only the child of a sister would contain the proper sequence since a brother's child would obtain his or her mtDNA from his mother who would not be a blood relative of the deceased in question.

The chart below can help you determine whether you are an eligible mtDNA donor.

The number of eligible donors of blood (MtDNA) continues to decline, making these samples very important to future identifications. All maternal relatives of WWII, the Korean War, Cold War, and Vietnam War KIA (BNR) casualties are encouraged to contact the appropriate service and arrange blood (MtDNA) donation.

Service Casualty Offices serve family members. Each Military Department maintains a service casualty office. The Department of State does the same for civilians. The officials in these offices serve as the primary liaisons for families concerning personnel recovery and accounting. Full-time civilians who have worked this issue for many years and are experienced and knowledgeable help answer family member questions. Military officials also assist and help explain the methods used to account for families' missing loved ones. Each office dedicates for family use the following addresses and telephone numbers:

Department of the Army
(800) 892-2490
U.S. Army Human Resources Command
Attn: AHRC-PDC-R
200 Stovall Street
Alexandria, VA 22332-0482

Headquarters U.S. Marine Corps
(800) 847-1597
Manpower and Reserve Affairs (MRA)
Personal and Family Readiness Division
3280 Russell Road
Quantico, VA 22134-5103

Department of the Navy
(800) 443-9298
Casualty Assistance Division (OPNAV N135C)
POW/MIA Branch
5720 Integrity Drive
Millington, TN 38055-6210

Department of the Air Force
(800) 531-5803
HQ, Air Force/Mortuary Affairs
116 Purple Heart Drive
Dover Air Force Base, DE 19902

Department of State
(202) 647-5470
U.S. Department of State
CA/OCS/ACS/EAP SA29
2201 C St. North West
Washington, D.C. 20520-2818