COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – Gov. Mike DeWine has created a working group tasked with examining how missing persons cases are handled in the state.  Last week, DeWine announced the formation of the "Missing Persons Working Group," which will analyze how disappearances are investigated and offer suggestions for improvement. “Every life is valuable, which is why it is important to take these cases seriously,” DeWine said in a statement. “I’ve asked this group to examine different components of missing persons investigations to determine if the process can be improved. The ultimate goal here is to bring more missing people home safely. ” Ohio launches human trafficking data tracker The working group will study Ohio’s available resources and responses to adult and children missing persons cases. This includes the state’s use of databases, as well as law enforcement training and staffing.  The working group consists of 22 people, including law enforcement professionals, family members of missing people and others involved with the criminal justice system or Ohio youth. Members include Columbus Division of Police Sgt. Gerald Ehrsam, Upper Arlington assistant principal Lydia Smith Lockwood, and Aimee Chapman, the sister of missing Columbus man Andrew “Andy” Chapman.  Currently, over 1,000 Ohioans – including both adults and children – are missing, according to a database maintained by the state's attorney general’s office. Recorded cases date to 1928, with the disappearance of 4-year-old Melvin Horst.  Multiple family members of missing people have raised concern to NBC4 about how cases are handled. The wife of Tyler Davis – a missing man who vanished from Easton Town Center in 2019 – said in April that detectives were originally dismissive of her husband's disappearance because he was an adult and could leave if he pleased. Husted sworn in as Ohio’s newest senator “We need to have more written rules and laws in place because we do for children and we do for elderly, but we don’t for people that are over 18,” Brittany Davis said. “[A detective] said, ‘I have 15 cases,’ and I said, ‘I have one husband and my son has one father,’ so people really do just kind of shove you down. … It’s sad to see how often that happens in this kind of situation.” Aimee Chapman also previously told NBC4 that police did not initially take her brother's disappearance seriously due to his struggle with addiction. She later learned certain records that could have proven to be valuable to the investigation, such as bank records, had not been obtained by police and had been destroyed as years had passed. The Missing Persons Working Group will have its first meeting at the Ohio Department of Public Safety on Thursday at 1 p.m. The group is expected to give the state its recommendations at the end of April.