Kansas City, Mo. ? Evidence may be missing in up to 242 unsolved homicides, Kansas City Police revealed.

That number was reported in an audit that police released Friday to The Kansas City Star.

Auditors checked only computer records and did not look for physical evidence. Police said the evidence might be missing or the computer program might be faulty.

Police Chief Rick Easley announced last month that a new homicide squad was being formed to check 858 unsolved homicide cases dating to 1976. That followed the discovery that evidence or property in eight homicide cases was mistakenly lost or destroyed.

Next month the squad will start looking for evidence and trying to solve old cases.

The audit team physically searched for evidence in 57 cases set to go to trial and three of the 858 unsolved homicides.

The team also checked all of the 858 cases through the department’s property inventory computer program, which lists evidence in cases and the location of evidence in storage facilities. That check showed no record of evidence in 242 cases.

Police questioned the 242 figure because the audit identified the computer program as being partly responsible for the lost or destroyed evidence.

Capt. Rich Lockhart said that much of the property might not be missing.

“Only a physical search for evidence will tell us for sure,” he said.