Does the US National Guard keep dental records?

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Fervent Freyja
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I'm trying to find my father's dental records. He disappeared off the face of the Earth around 6 years ago and I've been looking for his remains since then. Florida medical examiners have posted some unidentified remains on nameus.gov within the last year that match his description. My grandfather and uncle's are willing to give DNA samples, though my brother's are not. I really don't want to bother them, so want to try the dental records route first. My grandfather is recovering from prostate cancer and is in his mid 80's. I want to do this for my grandfather before he dies, but don't want to stress him out with the process of collecting DNA. He has gotten very emotional talking about my father in the past, so I don't want to upset him any right now.

I've been having really big issues because this is an interstate issue- local law enforcement in my state cannot help me and Florida authorities have given me the runaround as well. He was in the active Army then National Guard for over 20 years, surely they would have dental records for him? Any military in here know whether or not they keep dental records long term- from like 1972-1995? Should I contact his last known unit? Does anybody have any information that could help? Does anybody know how easy the process is for having them transferred to medical examiners (the ME never replied to my email asking for help either)? Thanks for any help!
 
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I know that the Navy did when I was in. If they did, I would imagine the Guard does, but for how long they keep the records I can't say. However even if they do, getting them might be very difficult. Everything medical related for service members is protected under HIPAA. Your best bet is to contact the command he was at and they may be able to tranfer the information to an ME.
 
Vanadium 50 said:
There is no US National Guard - it's the [Insert State Name Here] National Guard. However, the US Army certainly keeps records. Whether they can find them or not, you'll just have to ask.
Right. I do know which armory. I will go up there in person. I hadn't been sure if they always take dental x-rays or not.

DS2C said:
Everything medical related for service members is protected under HIPAA. Your best bet is to contact the command he was at and they may be able to tranfer the information to an ME.

From what I can find, the process for getting records is tedious. I was hoping to shortcut that since I only need it to be transferred to another government entity. It boggles my mind at how many obstacles I keep encountering.

Thanks!
 
Fervent Freyja said:
It boggles my mind at how many obstacles I keep encountering.
Yes. I think Walt Kelly had it right in his 1971 Earth Day comic strip. To quote Pogo in the eponymous strip: "We have met the enemy and he is us."

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Best of luck F.F. Hope it all turns out well.

Tom
 
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Vanadium 50 said:
There is no US National Guard - it's the [Insert State Name Here] National Guard. However, the US Army certainly keeps records.
There is (or at least there used to be) the Army Reserves, which is (or was) distinct from the state National Guard units. Service numbers had different prefixes for enlisted personnel: RAdddddddd for regular army, NGdddddddd for National Guard, ERdddddddd for reservists. The dddddddd represents an 8-digit number. This is how it was in the mid-60s, when I was in the reserves.
 
Tom.G said:
Best of luck F.F. Hope it all turns out well.

Tom

Thanks. No need to feel bad for anybody here. Nobody else is really looking (we don't want him back here). I have mixed feelings about it. My therapist is trying to help me get over myself and my stubbornness.

What really is the most decent thing to do: let a sociopathic pedophile just continue decomposing in the middle of nowhere, or find him and bury him so that nobody has to ever think about him again? Do you guys think such a person deserves any mercy? My therapist thinks I need to do it now. I just hope it doesn't trigger my PTSD too much in the process, anymore than it already has.
 
My grandfather and uncle's are willing to give DNA samples, though my brother's are not. I really don't want to bother them, so want to try the dental records route first.

If they are willing, especially your grandfather, prioritize this first. If dental records exist, they aren't going anywhere. Your grandfather will pass and you will never get the opportunity again and it has great potential value as a matter of family heritage separate and apart from your effort to identify remains. Your own DNA is more than sufficient, by itself, however, to make a match.

A kit costs like $100 and it takes ten minutes to administer the cheek swab and send it off.
 

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