"DNA Lifeprint" event, hosted by Cantins, offers families free opportunity to collect and store identifying information

LACONIA — On Saturday, Cantin Chevrolet will be hosting an event that will allow parents to collect and store a few pieces of data about their kids. There's no cost to parents to participate, but if their children were ever to become missing, the information would be invaluable, according to Joe Matthews.

Matthews is the founder of DNA Lifeprint, a company that provides kits to parents that will provide them with a high-resolution digital photograph of their child, fingerprints of all 10 digits, a journal of questions that will help investigators in the hours and days after a child is reported missing. It's a situation Matthews knows well, as he spent 29 years with the Miami Beach Police Department, during which time he investigated 20,000 criminal investigations and 2,000 death cases.

DNA Lifeprint also offers a tool for parents that didn't exist when he was working as a detective: a kit that allows parents to collect and store their child's DNA information.

It was in his capacity on the Miami Beach Police Department that Matthews assisted the initial investigation into the 1981 disappearance and murder of Adam Walsh, a six year-old and son of John Walsh, who was then a hotel developer and would later become an advocate for measures to prevent and solve child abduction.

John Walsh assumed a yet more visible role when he became the host of "America's Most Wanted," a Fox television show that also features Matthews as a criminal investigator. In 2008, an investigation led by Matthews finally identified Adam Walsh's killer as Ottis Toole, who had since died in prison for other crimes. Although there was no trial, the Hollywood, Fla. Police Department, in whose jurisdiction the crime was committed, has declared the case closed in light of Matthews's findings.

The DNA Lifeprint event is being held at the Union Avenue car dealership on September 25 from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Parents will receive a disc containing their child's photograph and fingerprints, the journal and a DNA kit to take home. There is no charge to participate, as Cantin's is sponsoring the event. Matthews noted that there is no data stored by his organization; all the information is taken home in the care of the parents.

"Any time I've ever worked a case, you're going to get hundreds and hundreds of leads," said Matthews, especially in a high-profile missing person case. Modern forensics can do remarkable things with DNA information, he said. It used to be that investigators needed a bodily fluid in order to glean DNA information, but recent science has allowed for what Matthews called "touch DNA." He said any time a person touches something, he or she leaves behind skin cells containing genetic information.

"You can extract DNA from almost anything," said Matthews. With that information, investigators can be sure that they're on the right trail. "That way you can be sure that that baby was in that hotel room, that car."

"Compared to what we had before , it makes our job so much easier," Matthews added.

Matthews noted that people of all ages are abducted and he recommended that parents consider participating in the event whether their children are in pre-school or preparing for their freshman year in college. Because it doesn't cost the family anything, he said, "It's a win-win for everyone. To me it's a no-brainer."