Tammy Lacher Scully is tired of people questioning her search for her missing son.

Graham Lacher. Photo courtesy of Tammy Lacher Scully

Graham Lacher went missing from a psychiatric center in Bangor in 2022. He’d be 40 now. Some people have thought his mom’s calls for help were a scam, Lacher Scully told lawmakers on Monday, because his name isn’t on Maine State Police’s list of missing people. Neither are the names of over 100 other Maine residents who are listed as missing in a national government database.

She spoke at a public hearing in support of a proposal by Rep. Nina Milliken, D-Blue Hill, that would require Maine State Police to expand and maintain an online list of missing people for all open cases in the state, not just those under their limited jurisdiction.

Some say it’s not that easy. But lawmakers on the Legislature’s Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee on Monday discussed ways to prompt a more efficient system for logging missing people statewide.

Lt. Thomas Pickering said during the hearing that the proposed law unfairly puts the onus on Maine State Police to maintain the list, even though they don’t investigate all missing people and other agencies aren’t required to report disappearances to them.

The medical examiner’s office, however, is the state’s official repository “because of their obvious connection to the recovery of remains,” Pickering said. Law enforcement agencies typically report missing persons cases to the office, which later uploads the information into a nationwide government database of missing people: the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System.

Advertisement

The national list stores information about missing people, especially those whose cases have no leads after 180 days and those who may be at risk of death or injury, according to the website. The website currently lists 148 people from Maine. Maine State Police’s limited online list features 36 cases — only those considered “suspicious” with state police as the primary investigators, Pickering said.

The Office of Chief Medical Examiner has a link to the national database on its website, which describes the agency as Maine’s official clearinghouse for missing people.

“We know our missing people by name and we review their cases regularly,” spokesperson Lindsey Chasteen said at Monday’s hearing.

The national system stores private information for police and the medical examiner’s office to access, like DNA and medical information. A separate public-facing database has a list of missing people with their photo, information about their disappearance and contact information for the investigating agency.

Still, the system doesn’t exist on any official Maine government website, which some people say could make it harder for the public to find.

WHAT COULD IT LOOK LIKE?

Lacher Scully said the medical examiner’s office isn’t the right place to house a statewide list, especially because the website says they are only logged in the national database “when there is reason to suspect the individual may not be found alive.”

Advertisement

“That just underscores to me that my son is only important to the state of Maine if he’s dead,” Lacher Scully said in a phone interview Monday after the hearing. “That just feels like such the wrong message to send to families with missing loved ones.”

Rather, the state police agency seems more appropriate, she said, because it has a larger workforce and can actively investigate missing persons cases. Plus, the public already thinks Maine State Police’s list encompasses all of the state’s missing people, Lacher Scully said.

“In the big picture of everything that we’ve endured with my son being missing, him being listed on something that’s accessible to the public feels like a small ask to me,” Lacher Scully said.

But Pickering said it’s not feasible for his agency or the medical examiner to maintain the comprehensive list. State police don’t have information about every missing persons case, he said. And if the medical examiner’s office were to post and maintain a Maine list, Pickering said, the 12-person office would need to be expanded to include more administrative support.

Chasteen said the medical examiner’s office is neither for nor against the bill, but she worried about other gaps in the system that could make a Maine database unhelpful. Not all law enforcement agencies are reporting their missing people right away. For example, her office first heard about the missing scallop fishermen from South Addison on the news, not from Maine Marine Patrol.

“That happens more often than you think,” Chasteen told lawmakers. “We find out through Facebook posts … and then we contact the agency.”

Advertisement

All police agencies should follow the same standards of reporting missing people statewide, she said, and that should be enforced. Lawmakers agreed to address some of these concerns at an upcoming work session for the bill.

WHAT CAN BE DONE?

Lacher Scully and Milliken also suggested that the state should do more to broadcast active missing persons cases. This could look like more immediate silver alerts and regular statewide alerts with photos, Lacher Scully said.

Milliken said these alerts would remind the public of someone’s disappearance, such as 14-year-old Stefanie Damron of New Sweden, who has been missing since September.

“It would be useful, I would think, for the public to be reminded of her case and to show her image every month or more so we all continue to look for her,” Milliken said at the hearing.

Also, alerts should be sent to places like local libraries, soup kitchens and homeless shelters, as well as search and rescue groups, in the first 72 hours, Lacher Scully said. She said this may have helped her find her son and taken some burden off of her and her family investigating Graham Lacher’s disappearance themselves.

“We felt we were entirely on our own,” Lacher Scully said. “We were taking the calls of potential sightings. We were going to the places to follow up on them. We were soliciting video and photographs … Anything would be helpful.”

Related Headlines

Join the Conversation

Please sign into your CentralMaine.com account to participate in conversations below. If you do not have an account, you can register or subscribe. Questions? Please see our FAQs.