When a loved one goes missing, family members contact local police, who create a case file. When human remains are discovered, another case file is created.

But here is the problem: Under the current system, these two files have no way of talking to each other. The information is spread across thousands of databases across the country, and families can search for years for their loved one who may have already been found.

Here is my Crime Watch Daily investigation on what some call the nation’s “Silent Mass Crisis.”