Every day in Pernambuco, seven people vanish.
Em Pernambuco, sete pessoas desaparecem a cada dia — uma cadência silenciosa de ausências que remodela famílias e comunidades inteiras. Diante dessa realidade, o estado se une à 3ª Campanha Nacional de Coleta de DNA, vigente até 15 de agosto, oferecendo às famílias uma forma concreta de participar da própria busca: a doação de material genético que pode cruzar fronteiras estaduais e identificar os perdidos, vivos ou mortos. É a ciência colocada a serviço do luto e da esperança — um gesto pequeno com consequências que podem durar uma vida.
- Pernambuco registrou 1.359 desaparecimentos apenas no primeiro semestre de 2025, mantendo uma média alarmante de sete casos por dia que não dá sinais de recuo.
- Famílias vivem em suspensão emocional, sem saber se seus entes queridos estão vivos, hospitalizados, perdidos ou mortos — uma incerteza que a ausência de dados genéticos prolonga indefinidamente.
- A campanha, que funciona em dez unidades forenses espalhadas pelo estado, permite que qualquer familiar de desaparecido doe material genético de forma rápida e indolor, integrando os perfis a bancos estaduais e federais.
- O cruzamento de dados já provou seu valor: em 2024, Pernambuco identificou 35 desaparecidos nacionalmente — mais do que qualquer outro estado — incluindo um caso resolvido graças ao compartilhamento entre Pernambuco e Paraíba.
- Em 2025, 19 pessoas já foram localizadas pelo banco genético estadual; autoridades reforçam que o compromisso investigativo é o mesmo independentemente de os números subirem ou caírem.
Todo dia, sete pessoas somem em Pernambuco. Algumas são encontradas em horas. Outras, nunca. Em agosto de 2025, o estado se incorporou à terceira edição de uma campanha nacional que oferece às famílias uma ferramenta simples e poderosa: a doação de material genético para cruzamento com bancos de dados estaduais e federais.
Os números falam por si. Foram 1.359 desaparecimentos no primeiro semestre de 2025 e 2.909 ao longo de 2024 — uma média que não perdoa. No Brasil inteiro, mais de 73 mil casos foram registrados no ano passado. Não são estatísticas abstratas: são vizinhos, parentes, pessoas cuja ausência transforma para sempre a vida de quem ficou.
A lógica da campanha é prática. Quando um corpo é encontrado sem identificação, o DNA pode confirmar quem é. Quando uma pessoa é localizada viva mas incapaz de se comunicar — hospitalizada, desorientada, em sofrimento psíquico —, o cruzamento genético pode reuní-la à família. O sistema opera além das fronteiras estaduais: no ano passado, um desaparecido de Pernambuco foi identificado na Paraíba graças ao compartilhamento de dados entre os estados.
Jeyzon Valeriano, do Instituto de Genética Forense Eduardo Campos, destaca o que a campanha previne: o sofrimento prolongado de famílias que não sabem se seu ente querido está vivo ou morto. A delegada-chefe Tereza Nogueira acrescenta que nem todo desaparecimento tem natureza criminal — mas todos merecem atenção plena. Para participar, basta registrar um boletim de ocorrência e comparecer a uma das dez unidades de coleta distribuídas pelo estado.
A campanha vai até 15 de agosto. Não é uma garantia. Mas em um estado onde sete pessoas desaparecem por dia, é um passo necessário — e, para muitas famílias, a única forma de transformar a espera em ação.
Every day in Pernambuco, seven people vanish. Some are found within hours. Others are never located. On Tuesday, August 5th, the state launched its participation in the third national campaign to collect DNA from families of the missing—a straightforward but consequential effort to match genetic material against databases that span the state, the nation, and the federal system.
The numbers are stark. In the first half of 2025, Pernambuco recorded 1,359 disappearances. Last year, the state logged 2,909 cases, which breaks down to roughly seven people per day, every day, for twelve months. Across Brazil, the picture is even larger: more than 73,000 disappearances were registered in 2024, a rate of 219 people daily. These are not abstractions. They are neighbors, relatives, people whose absence reshapes the lives of those left behind.
The campaign, running through August 15th, asks families to take a simple step: donate genetic material—usually collected through saliva, sometimes through personal items like a toothbrush—that can be compared against profiles stored in state genetic banks and the National Genetic Profile Bank. The logic is practical. When a body is found unidentified, DNA can confirm who it is. When a person is discovered alive but unable to communicate—hospitalized, lost, suffering from mental illness—genetic matching can reunite them with family. The system works across state lines. Last year, during the same campaign, Pernambuco identified 35 missing persons nationally, more than any other state. One case involved a person who disappeared in Pernambuco but was found in Paraíba; the cross-state data sharing made identification possible.
Jeyzon Valeriano, who manages the Eduardo Campos Institute of Forensic Genetics, frames the campaign's importance in terms of what it prevents: the prolonged emotional devastation of families who do not know whether their missing relative is alive or dead. "The importance of this campaign is enormous," he said, "because DNA testing often makes it possible to locate living people who are lost, people with mental health conditions, people hospitalized in comas. But it also identifies deceased persons found without any identification. We know that disappearance is a delicate matter for families, but they are not alone." In 2025 so far, nineteen missing persons in Pernambuco have been located using the state's genetic profile bank. In 2024, that number was fifty-one.
Tereza Nogueira, the chief delegate of the Missing Persons and Person Protection division, emphasizes that not all disappearances are criminal. Some people go missing and are later found; their families stop seeking police assistance, and the case closes without formal resolution. Others involve no crime at all. Still, she insists, every case demands the full attention of investigators. "The data merit our complete attention," she said. "It does not matter whether numbers rise or fall year to year. The Civil Police's commitment to identifying and locating missing persons—alive or deceased—is the same regardless of the figures."
The process for families is accessible. Any relative of a missing person can participate. First, they must file a police report at a local precinct. Then they visit one of ten collection sites scattered across Pernambuco's forensic units—in Recife, Caruaru, Garanhuns, Nazaré da Mata, Palmares, Arcoverde, Salgueiro, Afogados da Ingazeira, Ouricuri, and Petrolina. The collection itself is painless and quick. All material collected during the campaign enters both the state genetic profile banks and the federal system, part of an integrated network designed to share information across jurisdictions.
For Nogueira, the stakes are clear. DNA evidence can close investigations that would otherwise remain open indefinitely. "When we have a missing person case, especially one involving a death, we cannot say with 99.9 percent certainty who we have found without this data," she explained. "And when a person is located, whether alive or dead, it significantly reduces the emotional damage to the family." The campaign offers families a concrete tool, a way to participate in their own search. It is not a guarantee. But in a state where seven people disappear daily, it is a necessary step.
Citações Notáveis
The importance of this campaign is enormous, because DNA testing often makes it possible to locate living people who are lost, people with mental health conditions, people hospitalized in comas. But it also identifies deceased persons found without any identification.— Jeyzon Valeriano, manager of the Eduardo Campos Institute of Forensic Genetics
When we have a missing person case, especially one involving a death, we cannot say with 99.9 percent certainty who we have found without this data. And when a person is located, whether alive or dead, it significantly reduces the emotional damage to the family.— Tereza Nogueira, chief delegate of the Missing Persons and Person Protection division
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why does DNA collection matter so much if most missing persons are found alive anyway?
Because the ones who aren't found alive—or who are found but can't be identified—are the ones whose families live in permanent uncertainty. DNA closes that door. It says: this is who you lost, and here is what happened. That certainty, even when it's grief, is less damaging than not knowing.
The numbers seem to fluctuate—1,359 in the first half of 2025, but 2,909 last year. Is the situation improving?
The delegate says it doesn't matter whether the numbers go up or down. Every case gets the same attention. But I think what she's really saying is that we shouldn't be comforted by a lower number. Seven people a day is still seven people a day. The real measure is how many we can locate and identify, not how many disappear.
What's the practical barrier? Why don't more families donate DNA?
Some don't know the campaign exists. Some haven't filed a police report yet—that's a prerequisite. Some are in rural areas far from collection sites. And some, frankly, may not trust the system or may be afraid of what they'll learn. The campaign is trying to lower those barriers, but it's slow work.
You mentioned that Pernambuco identified more missing persons than any other state last year. What made that possible?
The state has invested in its genetic profile bank and in training. But also, the cross-state data sharing worked. One person disappeared in Pernambuco and was found in Paraíba. Without the integrated system, that person might never have been identified. That's the real power here—not just collecting DNA, but connecting it across borders.
Is there a sense that this campaign will actually move the needle?
Nineteen people located in 2025 using the genetic bank, fifty-one in 2024. Those are real lives. But against seven disappearances a day, it's a fraction. The campaign is a tool, not a solution. The real work is prevention—understanding why people disappear in the first place.