Facebook Group Finds the Living
Joe Higgs was a homeless World War II veteran who lived in his jeep in the California desert. Authorities found him dead in the jeep in November 2005, and his finger prints provided his identity. The coroner’s office, using their traditional methods, could not track down any next of kin to notify.
Joe Higgs is one of a growing number of unclaimed persons. They are not John or Jane Doe’s; the coroner knows the identity, but can’t find the family.
Megan Smolenyak, a genealogy expert, had read a newspaper article early this year about the problem of unclaimed persons, and in one case there was mention that the man’s family Bible was among his belongings. Megan had an inspiration that she could use her genealogical sleuthing skills to find the man’s family. She called the coroner’s office who invited her to come in and talk.
The Deputy Coroner of San Bernardino County, California, decided to give Megan a chance to help with the Joe Higgs case. He gave her the few clues they had about Higgs – his name, his 1926 birth date, and place of birth. Using genealogical skills which included research on the 1930 census and ancestry.com, Megan was able to give the coroner’s office a likely family contact, an 85 year old brother living in Las Vegas.
This Mr. Higgs choked up when the coroner told him about Joe. The last time he had seen Little Joe, as his older siblings called the baby of the family, was fifty years ago in Salt Lake City. The brothers and sisters had tried for years to track down Little Joe. And now the last remaining sibling knew. Joe Higgs is buried in Riverside National Cemetery, gone but not forgotten.
In May 2008 after Megan Smolenyak produced a Roots Television online episode about her experience with unclaimed persons, she was flooded with emails from genealogists wanting to help. Megan had an idea. She knew that genealogists had been flocking to Facebook so she created a Facebook group as a means for genealogists to undertake this work. Within a matter of weeks over 300 volunteers had signed up.
Now there are over 400 volunteers collaborating on Facebook to find the next of kin of unclaimed persons as a service for coroners. They work the cases online in the Facebook community – people post what they discover and others build on it – and have cracked some cases in just a matter of hours. The group is structured so that case managers bring the new cases to the group from the coroners, guide the process, and report back to the coroners when they believe they have a solid lead. Since June the group has solved 29 cases.
After Megan created the Facebook group, she created the website unclaimedpersons.org as a resource for both coroners and genealogist volunteers. The site contains guidelines for working cases, how to volunteer, and submission form for coroner’s offices.
James Michael G. is one example of a case solved by the Facebook group. He was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1961 and died in Tampa, Florida, in 1982. The coroner’s office of Hillsborough County, Florida, referred the case to the Facebook group on July 13, 2008. The group worked the case for two months and cracked it.
On September 18, the case administrator posted these comments from the coroner’s office.
“Once again please tell your group how we appreciate their efforts. As a result of their work, I was able to track the mother using one of our databases… She has been looking for her son for years!!!”
The case administrator’s own comments followed.
“It is so rewarding to know that through our humble efforts we have been able to help bring closure to this elderly mother’s incessant worrying and wondering and to the countless years of waiting for her son to come home. Rest in peace, James Michael. You’re home.”
Another family won’t have to wonder.
On November 11, 2008, Megan posted this comment for all the volunteers.
“There are 29 people whose families have been found because of this amazing group. 29 families no longer wondering. 29 people who didn’t go to the grave anonymously. It truly matters.”
Every life is worth remembering.