31 years after the remains were found, they were identified using forensic genealogy

The Golden State Killer’s Genomic Connections and the Verogen Genealogy of James DeAngelo: The Case for a Family Tree

The remains of a Native American woman were believed to be 25 years old, but subsequent investigation showed they had been buried in a shallow grave for three years.

As DNA analysis and forensics advanced through the years, more bits of information came to light: In 2012, scientists at North Texas University were able to extract DNA from the bones. But all it told investigators was that the remains belonged to a man and may have had ancestors on the Indian Subcontinent.

“For a lot of years, the only thing that was available was criminal databases for DNA,” Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said at a news conference Tuesday.

If your unknown is a person that committed a crime, then that is great, because in the database they can see that person. If not, DNA doesn’t do you any good.

Over 4,000 people are in a family tree built by AdvanceDNA. She said that they researched all the way into Virginia, Kentucky, Canada and England.

Yost said that death is something that’s certain about our lives on this earth, but not having a name to put on a memorial is a tragedy.

“We know from the nature of the crime scene that this may have been a homicide,” Yost said. ” The detectives will now be able to go out and hit the streets with the new information they have.

The 2018 arrest of Joseph James DeAngelo, infamously known as the Golden State Killer, put genetic genealogy on the map. Investigators created a DNA profile of DeAngelo using crime scene evidence, and uploaded it to a public genealogy database people use to find relatives. Police found out about DeAngelo’s genetic connections from public records, and used them to build a family tree to ultimately zero in on him.

Moore says that the entire field is dependent on two databases owned by private companies. GED match uses services like 23andMe and others to give users the chance to take a test and then upload the raw genetic data from those services. FamilyTreeDNA is a testing service like 23andMe or Ancestry, but unlike them, it allows law enforcement to search its database of consumer data.

Verogen acquired GEDmatch in December, the company started by an amateur genealogist. In January, Verogen was bought by Qiagen, a Dutch genomics firm. FamilyTreeDNA, meanwhile, is a division of Texas-based Gene by Gene, which merged with Australian company myDNA in 2021. The database was the crown jewel for that company. The data is what is so valuable,” says Press.

That these databases keep changing hands made Moore and Press nervous about what would happen to all that data and how it could be used by the new owners. Plus, they might lose a crucial tool if these companies were to suddenly shut down, restrict access to their databases, or up their prices for law enforcement use. “We wanted to have this alternative as an option,” Moore says.