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Missing Persons Day At Cook County Medical Examiner's Office Gives Hope To Families

CHICAGO (CBS)-- Several Chicago families are finding renewed hope after years of trying to locate missing family members.

The Cook County Medical Examiner's Office's Missing Persons Day works to connect those families with resources that may make a difference.

It's been almost two years since Alice Grissett's brother went missing.

Loved ones said Tommie Grissett was last seen at his home in Chicago's Little Village neighborhood on August 5, 2017.

"He was a fun type of person," Grissett said.

Grissett said she has searched frantically for her 60-year-old brother since the day he disappeared.

"I've been everywhere that I know he hung out at, nobody's seen him," she said. "So, I don't know what else to do."

Grissett's worry brought her to the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office for the third annual Missing Persons Day.

The event that offers a variety of resources ranging from sit downs with detectives to DNA testing.

"It has helped about 150 families who have come in over the last few years to submit their DNA information," said Cook County Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Ponni Arunkumar.

"It's a very difficult day, but I think it's an important service that we provide," Said Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle.

"Ande" is a Rapid DNA company approved by the FBI last year. Their technology, capable of processing samples and identifying a person in as little as 90 minutes.

Results would typically take weeks or even months to come back from the lab, according to detectives. This advancement is a potential game changer for the future of DNA testing, and for grissett.

"We do want to know where he is and I'm not going to stop until I get some closure," Grissett said.

The Medical Examiner's Office said one person has been identified since missing persons day started three years ago.

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