TRACE Act

This bill aims to improve how the national missing persons database tracks cases that may have happened on federal lands or in U.S. coastal waters. It tells the Justice Department to add a new field in the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) to show if a person’s last known location was confirmed or suspected to be on federal land or in the territorial sea, and to include specific location details (like the particular park, forest, or water area) for those cases. It also requires yearly counts of these cases to be sent to Congress, starting January 15 of the second year after the law takes effect, and every year after that.

The bill explains what “federal land” and “territorial waters” mean. Federal land includes areas managed by the Departments of Agriculture and Interior, and certain Corps of Engineers projects; it does not include land held in trust for Tribes. “Territorial waters” means the 12‑nautical‑mile zone along the U.S. coast.

• Who is affected: Families of missing people, law enforcement, and agencies that manage federal lands and waters, through updates to NamUs.
• What changes: A new NamUs data field flags if a case likely happened on federal land or in territorial waters, with specific place details; annual totals of these cases are reported to Congress.
• When: Annual reporting begins January 15 of the second calendar year after the law is enacted, and continues every year.