10 U.S.C. § 1502 — Missing persons: initial report

(a) Preliminary Assessment and Recommendation by Commander .— After receiving information that the whereabouts and status of a person described in section 1501(c) of this title is uncertain and that the absence of the person may be involuntary, the commander of the unit, facility, or area to or in which the person is assigned must make a preliminary assessment of the circumstances. If, as a result of that assessment, the commander concludes that the person is missing, the commander must—
(1) recommend that the person be placed in a missing status^*; and
(2) not later than 10 days after receiving such information, send a report containing that recommendation to the Secretary concerned^* under procedures prescribed under section 1501(b) of this title .

(b) Transmission of Advisory Copy to Theater Component Commander^* .— When transmitting a report under subsection (a)(2) recommending that a person be placed in a missing status, the commander transmitting that report must send an advisory copy of the report to the theater component commander with jurisdiction over the missing person^*.

(c) Safeguarding and Forwarding of Records .— A commander making a preliminary assessment under subsection

(a) about a missing person must (under procedures prescribed under section 1501 of this title ) safeguard and forward for official use any information relating to the whereabouts and status of the missing person that results from the preliminary assessment or from actions taken to locate the person.