Forensic genealogists are using DNA databases to recreate family lines and help police solve cold cases when the DNA itself is no help. Even trace amounts of DNA can place a criminal at the scene of a crime, but only if the police can match the sample to a person. If a match doesn’t appear in any law enforcement database and detectives don’t have a suspect in mind – or might be compelled to give a DNA sample or unintentionally leave some laying around – the evidence won’t help close a case.
In several such cases, forensic genealogists have dropped DNA samples into online databases intended to help people find family members and ancestors. The result? Matches to a family line that narrowed the identity of a killer to just one or two people.
Comments