Using Investigative Genetic Genealogy in Infanticide Cases
Investigative genetic genealogy is becoming a popular topic in the forensic community for its use in solving previously “unsolvable” cold cases for law enforcement. The United States, unfortunately, has very high rates of infanticides–or the murder of a child younger than four years of age. Because these children are so young and have likely […]
The Missing Piece Episode 8: Stephanie Isaacson
Advanced DNA testing has revealed Darren Roy Marchand as the suspected perpetrator in the brutal murder of 14-year-old Stephanie Isaacson from Las Vegas. In June 1989, 14-year-old Stephanie Isaacson headed out on her morning walk to Eldorado High School. The Las Vegas teenager frequently took a shortcut through a vacant sandlot […]
Genetic Genealogy for Cold Case and Active Investigations: 2021 Update
Today’s blog is written by guest blogger, Ellen McRae Greytak, Director of Bioinformatics, Parabon Nanolabs. Reposted from The ISHI Report with permission. Investigative genetic genealogy (IGG) has taken the forensics and law enforcement worlds by storm, closing hundreds of cases that may never have been solved otherwise. In 2019, approximately one year after […]
The Missing Piece Episode 7: Sherri Ann Jarvis (Walker County Jane Doe)
After 40 years, Walker County Jane Doe has been confirmed to be 14-year old Sherri Ann Jarvis, who went missing from Stillwater, Minnesota in the early part of 1980. In the early morning of November 1st, 1980, a truck driver traveling past the Sam Houston National Forest came upon the body […]
Women Advancing Forensics: Olivia McCarter
Meet some of the women who are propelling the field of forensic science forward. In this interview, we meet Olivia McCarter, a student at the University of South Alabama. Like many people her age who are in school for a forensic science career, Olivia grew up watching TV shows that portrayed characters who were […]
Debunking Myths Surrounding Law Enforcement’s Use of Forensic Genetic Genealogy
In 2018, a new technique named Joseph DeAngelo as the Golden State Killer when a small team of investigators uploaded his DNA profile into a publicly available DNA database to reverse engineer his identity based on familial relations. As a part of his 19-year career with the FBI, from 2018 to 2021, former SA […]
Studying Public Preferences and Policy Options for Investigative Genetic Genealogy
Since the arrest of the Golden State Killer in April 2018, investigative genetic genealogy (IGG) has helped close hundreds of cases in the United States. But there are persistent concerns that this technique violates the privacy interests of participants in genetic genealogy databases and their families. Past studies have demonstrated that individuals are concerned about […]
Using the ForenSeq Kintelligence Workflow with Difficult Samples for Forensic Genetic Genealogy
Using next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies for forensic investigations has gained interest over the past few years due to the possibility of obtaining more information from a DNA sample left at the crime scene, especially in the presence of mixed contributors. The development of new workflows to be used with the MiSeq® FGx Sequencing System opens […]
The Missing Piece Episode 6: Mary Catherine Edwards
In January 1995, the parents of Mary Catherine Edwards, a “well-loved” Beaumont, Texas school teacher, went to her home to check on her. Mary lived alone, had not responded to calls and her parents were concerned. Upon arrival, they found she had been drowned in her bathroom. Beaumont detectives later determined that the […]
