Planning is underway for the annual New York State Missing Persons Day, which will be held on April 6 in Albany.

The 21^st annual event will bring together families of missing loved ones from across New York. It is organized by The Center for HOPE, which is short for Healing Our Painful Emotions. The center was founded by Mary Lyall, whose daughter Suzanne disappeared from the UAlbany in 1998.

A featured speaker this year is retired New York State Police Senior Investigator Tom Aiken. A longtime investigator in Washington County, Aiken pursued justice for a child named Howard “Hodgie” White, who died in 1972 after being tortured. Aiken solved the crime and secured a murder conviction in 1995. Aiken and his wife have written a book about the case titled “Hodgie’s Story.”

The program is being held at the New York State Museum and is open to the public.