The Barclay-Bourdin case contributed to specific changes in how missing persons cases are handled and verified in the United States, even if it is difficult to draw a direct line from the case to specific policy changes.

The exposure of verification failures — the sixteen-month period during which a fraudulent identity went unchallenged by the official systems that should have verified it — made it clear that existing protocols were insufficient for cases involving supposedly returned missing persons.

The subsequent development of more robust verification protocols has involved several components.

Biometric verification has become more central to the process of verifying the identity of supposed returned missing persons.

DNA testing and fingerprint comparison — which would have exposed Bourdin in a matter of days if conducted at the time of Carey’s identification in Spain — are now standard steps rather than optional ones.