‘Billy's Law,' to Address Missing Persons Cases, Passes U.S. House, Senate

It is federal legislation that has been decades in the making: “Billy’s Law” has passed both the House and Senate.

Billy Smolinski, a 31-year-old Waterbury man who went missing in 2004, inspired the act. It aims to close loopholes in America’s missing persons systems.

“This has been an emotionally draining experience,” Jan Smolinski, Billy Smolinski’s mother, said.

Jan and Bill Smolinski have been waiting for this moment for nearly two decades.

“Country is now in a safer place,” Bill Smolinski, Billy’s father said.

Now Help Find the Missing Act, known as “Billy’s Law,” is headed to President Biden’s desk to be signed into law.

“This legislation will not help finding our missing loved one’s remain, but it will make a difference for families of the missing all across America,” Jan Smolinski said.

“Billy’s Law” aims to do that by closing gaps in America’s missing persons systems. It would require the DOJ to set best practices and guidelines, provide training for law enforcement, and connect databases.

“Billy’s Law requires all of the information that law enforcement has about missing persons to be consolidated on one public facing database that would be available to the families of those missing persons,” Senator Chris Murphy (D), who re-introduced the legislation, said.

Nearly two decades after the Smolinski’s son went missing, he has never been found.

“The system we encountered while searching for our missing 31-year-old son was shattered,” Jan Smolinski said. “Being a 31-year-old male, fit, no one really took attention to it.”

Another family encountered similar obstacles in the search for their missing daughter. The parents of Gabby Petito, who was allegedly killed by her fiancé on a cross country trip last year, joined the Smolinskis in pushing for this bill.

“The Smolinskis have yet to find their son Billy. As a mom, that's, that's heartbreaking,” Nicole Schmidt, Gabby Petito’s mother, said. “Yet look at them. They still want to help other families. And that's what we want to do too.”

That search for closure has now gone on 18 years.

“I've remembered the story from my entire life growing up in Waterbury, you know, reading the headlines, seeing all the work that you guys did on this, driving down 84 and Route 8, and seeing billboards every year renewed,” Rep. Jahana Hayes, (D) District 5, who pushed the bill through the House, said.

However with “Billy’s Law” passing Congress, the Smolinskis get some sense of justice, knowing it will help the families of tens of thousands of missing people.

“Billy is smiling and happy to know that his family has not given up searching for him,” Jan Smolinski said. “And that during our search, we have managed to make the country a safer place for all Americans.”