Missing Persons' Day in New York brings a glimmer of hope

Yesenia Duprey, of the Bronx, said she feels like she's going crazy not knowing what happened to her sister, Kianie Cruz, 38, who has been missing since September.

Where has she gone? Is she injured? Is she dead?

“You cling to hope and faith, but slowly but surely, hope and faith begin to slip away from you. It's like, how can you not know about this girl for nine months? Duprey, 49, said Saturday after she and the sisters' mother, Awilda Del Valle, 69, each underwent a DNA swab at the city medical examiner's office, in case Cruz was found and A genetic match should be established.

Saturday was Missing Persons Day in New York, organized by the city's medical examiner's office, in hopes of helping find the loved ones of missing people without leaving a trace, if any.

The DNA can be compared to that of jurisdictions across the country, said Mark Desire, the bureau's deputy director. Cutting-edge practices developed during the office's post-9/11 experience assist in everyday cases in identifying missing persons.

“Every year we open our doors,” he said.

But he said anyone with a missing person should contact the office for help.

On Saturday afternoon, Duprey and Del Valle sat in the conference room of a medical examiner's office overlooking the East River and were questioned by a criminologist, Alexandra Leichnam, about Cruz's physical description, tattoos , dental care, nationwide fingerprinting and other identification. features. A detective from the NYPD Missing Persons Unit is also working on the case.

There are about 100,000 missing persons cases in the United States and about 40,000 “unknowns” buried in cemeteries, Desire said. At Saturday's event, about six cases were reviewed — and six on Friday — ranging from those who disappeared in the 1970s to those in recent months, like Cruz. The event was open to missing persons cases from recent months.

Duprey, a nurse, said her sister was depressed and had fallen into the wrong crowd, used drugs and overdosed the previous December.

Del Valle, a home health aide for autistic children, was the last person to see Cruz on September 28. The two lived together and discussed the next day's doctor's appointment Cruz had for liver disease. Del Valle woke up the next morning and Cruz was gone.

In the room overlooking the river, Leichnam spent about an hour with the mother and daughter, a process that ended with two mouth swabs each. Leichnam also said a personal item of Cruz's — a toothbrush, a hairbrush — could help.

“Even if it hadn't been used for nine months, there would be something there, wouldn't there?” Duprey asked Leichnam.

“There’s always a chance,” Leichnam said. “I can't confirm, but there is always a chance.”

Throughout the interview, the sister broke down in tears, wiping her eyes and face with tissues from a box provided by the office.

Duprey said she never thought her family would find themselves in this situation, completely unaware of what happened to their loved one.

“It's hard for me to deal with, because you see all this on the news and you can't imagine my family, myself, going through something like that,” she said.