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National Missing Persons Group Working With Grad Student's Family

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- A national organization that helps families find their missing loved ones is now working with the family of Dakota James, the 23-year-old Duquesne University grad student who has been missing for several weeks.

'Bring Our Missing Home' is a registered non-profit group based in Georgia and works on missing persons cases across the country.

Founder Cathy Rhodes tells KDKA's Kym Gable her teams have been working with the James family on leads and information in the case.

James was last seen on Jan. 25 walking through Katz Plaza downtown.

dakota_james_katz_plaza
(Source: Pittsburgh Police)

Rhodes said there has been a lot of misinformation being disseminated.

She says her network is working on a course of action in Pittsburgh, but cannot reveal the details of any of those plans. She did say that an Erie firm had already supplied a drone that searched the river from above.

Meanwhile, volunteers who've been working with the family embrace the organization's support.

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Robert Bendig is a former private investigator in Allegheny County.

"You have to make sure you communicate with everybody," Bendig said. "You can't have information that is to be disseminated going in different directions. You have to bring it back to a repository, which brings us to the organization that is helping the family."

'Bring Our Missing Home' also works with local law enforcement.

"The Pittsburgh Police Department, County Police and our local governments, I know, are focused on trying to bring peace of mind to this family," Bendig added.

For more information on the organization, visit their website here www.bringourmissinghome.org.

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