No one has hours to scour the papers to keep up with the latest news, so we’ve curated the top news stories in the field of Forensic Science for this week. Here’s what you need to know to get out the door!
Ontario Provincial Police & Toronto Police Service Leverage Othram’s Genetic Testing Platform to Identify a 2005 Jane Doe (DNASolves – 8/23/2024)
In August 2005, the remains of an unidentified individual were discovered at a rest area off Highway 7 near a picnic area located between Guelph and Rockwood, Ontario. It was determined that the remains were that of a female who was between the ages of 25 and 45 years old at the time of her death. Prior to her death, the woman had suffered a broken left cheek, nose and left eye socket—all of which had healed. The circumstances surrounding the woman’s death were deemed suspicious, but her cause of death could not be determined.
The woman’s body was found under a Woods-brand sleeping bag. She was not wearing any jewelry or identification, and it’s believed her clothing was purchased in the Montreal area. Forensic composites depicting how the woman may have looked during her life were developed and released to the public in hopes that it would generate leads in the case. Despite investigators’ attempts to identify the woman, her identity remained a mystery for nearly two decades.
In 2023, the Ontario Provincial Police, in collaboration with Toronto Police Service, submitted forensic evidence to Othram in The Woodlands, Texas to determine if advanced DNA testing could help identify the woman. Othram scientists used Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing® to build a comprehensive DNA profile for the unknown woman. Upon successfully completing the process, the profile was returned to law enforcement so that a forensic genetic genealogy search could be conducted. This search, led by the Toronto Police Service genetic genealogy team, generated new leads in the case.
Using this new information, a follow-up investigation was conducted, leading investigators to potential relatives of the woman. This investigation led to the positive identification of the woman, who is now known to be Tammy Eileen Penner. Penner was reported missing to the RCMP on February 7, 2005. Before disappearing, she had lived in Chilliwack and Abbotsford.
Reidsville Police Department & North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation Team with Othram to Identify a 2024 Home Fire Victim (DNASolves – 8/23/2024)
In January 2024, the Reidsville Police Department responded to a call regarding a structure fire at a vacant residence in Reidsville, North Carolina. Both the Reidsville Police and Fire Departments arrived at the scene, where they discovered an unidentified victim inside the building. The homeowner, who resided out of state, confirmed that no one should have been on the property. While on-site, a man approached the authorities, claiming that his family member lived at the address. Due to the severe burns sustained by the victim, fingerprints could not be obtained. The body was transported to the Medical Examiner’s Office in Raleigh for an autopsy, but without dental or medical records, a positive identification could not be made. However, a blood sample from the victim was collected for further investigation.
The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation submitted forensic evidence to Othram in The Woodlands, Texas to determine if advanced DNA testing could help identify the man. Using Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing®, Othram scientists developed a comprehensive DNA profile for the male victim.
In the course of the investigation, the possible family member contributed a reference DNA sample to help rule out the chance that the victim could be related to them. The family member’s DNA profile was then compared to the unidentified man’s DNA profile using KinSNP® Priority Service for Rapid Relationship Testing, which allows investigators to infer kinship in both closely and distantly related individuals. Using this information in conjunction with a follow up investigation, the agency was able to confirm the identity of the male victim as Jesse Eugene Settle, born April 8th, 1963.
She Was Struck by a Car During the Holidays in 1989. DNA Just Helped Find the Driver (NPR News – 8/26/2024)
Over the past three decades, it remained a mystery who drove the car that struck and killed 52-year-old Ruth Buchanan as she attempted to cross a street in Charlotte, N.C.
Even though police knew the car’s license plate number and what it looked like, the vehicle turned out to be stolen and the investigation reached a standstill. The case would have stayed cold indefinitely if not for modern DNA tools.
On Friday, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said a suspect, Herbert Stanback, 68, was identified and charged in connection to the hit-and-run case from 1989 — adding that a major breakthrough came from using new DNA technology to reexamine the evidence in the case.
Ventura County Sheriff’s Office & Medical Examiner’s Office Team with Othram to Identify a 1997 John Doe (DNASolves – 8/26/2024)
In February 1997, the remains of an unidentified individual were discovered at the bottom of a deep ravine in Ventura, California. Ventura is just northwest of Los Angeles. The Ventura County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene where it was determined that the remains were that of a male. The remains were sent to the Ventura County Medical Examiner’s Office, where it was estimated that the man stood 5’7” tall and weighed 150 pounds. The man was believed to have had reddish-brown hair and bore a tattoo of a Grim Reaper with the name ‘Cassandra’ on his left calf, along with a possible tattoo on his mid-right thigh. No other identifying characteristics could be determined. The manner and cause of death were undetermined. Furthermore, there was no evidence of foul play.
In May 2016, details of the case were entered into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) as UP15047. Despite extensive efforts by law enforcement investigators to identify the man, no matches were found, and the case went cold due to a lack of investigative leads.
In 2023, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office submitted forensic evidence to Othram in Woodlands, Texas, to determine if advanced DNA testing could help identify the man. Othram scientists successfully developed a DNA extract from the evidence and then used Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing® to build a comprehensive DNA profile for the man. Othram’s in-house forensic genetic genealogy team used the profile in a genetic genealogy search to develop new investigative leads that were returned to law enforcement.
Using this new information, a follow-up investigation was conducted, leading investigators to potential relatives of the man. Reference DNA samples were collected from a relative and compared to the DNA profile of the unidentified man. This investigation led to the positive identification of the man, who is now known to be Norman Leon Wyrick. Norman was born on September 14, 1941, in Marion County, Tennessee. He initially relocated to Orange County, California, as a young man, eventually settling in San Bernardino before making his way to Santa Barbara. Norman also resided in Port Hueneme. He was never reported missing.
Kenosha John Doe 1993 Identified (DNA Doe Project – 8/27/2024)
After more than three decades of uncertainty, a family’s long wait for answers has finally come to an end. The Kenosha County Medical Examiner’s Office and the DNA Doe Project have successfully identified a man whose body was discovered near the Soo Line tracks in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin in August 1993. The individual, known only as John Doe for 30 years, has been confirmed to be Ronald Louis Dodge, born in December, 1952. Dodge had family who were members of the Native American community on the Menominee Reservation in Wisconsin.
In August 1993, a photographer stumbled upon the mostly decomposed body of a middle-aged man near the Soo Line tracks outside of Kenosha, Wisconsin. Investigators did not locate any identification, so he was known as John Doe. Dodge had a large tattoo of leaves, overlapping panther claws, and a snake. Despite this distinctive characteristic, Dodge was not identified and the case went cold.
In 2018, Kenosha County Medical Examiner Patrice Hall reached out to the DNA Doe Project to see if newly developed investigative genetic genealogy techniques could be used to find the man’s identity. Kenosha John Doe would become the 33rd case worked by DNA Doe Project volunteers, and after more than 3 years of lab work to build a profile that could be uploaded to the databases at GEDmatch Pro and FamilyTreeDNA, a team of expert volunteers began the painstaking process of building a family tree based on the DNA relative matches to John Doe’s profile.
They realized that the work would not be easy when they discovered that Kenosha John Doe was Native American, a population woefully underrepresented in the DNA databases. By narrowing the search within the family tree and reaching out to potential relatives to take DNA tests, Hall and the DNA Doe Project team co-leaders were able to confirm the identity of Ronald Dodge.
“Cases of Jane and John Does that are of Native American heritage are extremely difficult to research,” said team co-lead Robin Espensen. “Sharing DNA is an especially sensitive issue for indigenous communities, and we were so fortunate to have the support of Ronald’s relatives to make this identification possible.”
The DNA Doe Project is grateful to the groups and individuals who helped solve this case: the Kenosha County Medical Examiner’s Office, who entrusted the case to the DNA Doe Project; Lakehead University Paleo-DNA Lab for extraction of DNA; the University of Georgia Center for Applied Isotope Studies for radiocarbon analysis; HudsonAlpha Discovery for sequencing; Greg Magoon for bioinformatics; GEDmatch Pro and FTDNA for providing their databases; our generous donors who joined our mission and contributed to this case; and DDP’s dedicated teams of volunteer investigative genetic genealogists who work tirelessly to bring all our Jane and John Does home.
Seeking an Ethical Approach to Ancient DNA Analysis (PhysOrg – 8/27/2024)
The study of ancient DNA provides valuable insights into human history, including how ancient populations migrated and merged with each other. But discoveries drawn from this ancient genetic data can directly impact the living in unexpected and even harmful ways. Yet in many places, including the United States, research on ancient human tissues is only lightly regulated.
By contrast, any scholarly study of living human subjects, including medical research, almost universally requires ethical clearance from an institutional review board. It may only proceed if the board is satisfied that the proposed study will minimize harm, that all individuals voluntarily decide to participate as research subjects, and that all participants will be adequately informed of how their information or specimens will be used. Through this practice of “informed consent,” study subjects may withdraw their participation at any time.
In an article published in July in the journal Communications Biology, Yale paleoanthropologist Jessica Thompson and co-authors Victoria E. Gibbon and Sianne Alves, both of the University of Cape Town, propose guidelines for a process of informed proxy consent for people and communities that ancient DNA research might affect.
44 Years After Woman Murdered in Suburban Seattle, DNA on Cigarette Leads to Suspect in Arkansas (CBS News – 8/27/2024)
New DNA recovered from a cigarette has helped police in Washington state make an arrest in a decades-old cold case, authorities said this week.
Dorothy Marie Silzel was last seen alive on Feb. 23, 1980, in Kent, Washington, the Van Buren County Sheriff’s Office said on social media. She was found dead in her condo three days later after a welfare check was requested. Local police found that she had been sexually assaulted and deemed her death to be a homicide via strangulation, according to the Seattle Times.
DNA evidence was collected from the crime scene, CBS affiliate KTHV reported, but it wasn’t until years later that the technology would advance enough to help link that evidence to possible suspects. In March 2022, Kent police began pursuing possible DNA matches and came back with 11 suspects, according to the station. Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson said on social media that his office’s sexual assault kit initiative funded forensic genetic genealogy testing that “narrowed the list of suspects.”
Glass Powder May be Magic Bullet in Solving Crimes (ASU News – 8/27/2024)
Using shattered glass to glean clues from a crime scene is nothing new.
Broken pieces of glass can indicate where a criminal was standing, the angle of a bullet’s trajectory and, in the case of a drive-by shooting, it can even determine the direction of travel.
But what is new is the use of tiny pieces of glass embedded in a bullet, powder smaller than half a strand of hair, to help solve crimes.
That is what Shirly Montero is working on.
“We are pushing the boundaries by analyzing particles of smaller sizes than previously established,” said Montero, assistant professor in Arizona State University’s School of Interdisciplinary Forensics.
Her technique will help when glass experts are analyzing a crime scene and don’t have enough information to decide between one piece of glass and another.
“If you have multiple scenarios that are possible and all of them have a different source of glass as an intermediate target, you can use this technique to exclude some or all scenarios,” said Montero, who calls this approach “comparative analysis” — comparing the chemical make-up of one piece of glass to that of another.
Lions, Tigers and Bears, Oh My: National Fish and Wildlife Forensics Lab Marks 35 Years of Solving Crimes in the Wild (Ashland News – 8/27/2024)
Celebrating its 35th anniversary, the Clark R. Bavin National Fish and Wildlife Forensics Laboratory on East Main Street in Ashland remains the world’s only full-service wildlife crime lab, not only solving high-profile cases, but in many ways changing the game for wildlife crime.
Founded in 1988, and dedicated in 1989 as the Clark R. Bavin National Fish and Wildlife Forensics Laboratory, the lab investigates around 800 to 1,000 wildlife crimes for the United States and foreign nations, said lab director Ken Goddard. Goddard has been with the lab since its beginning.
Wildlife crime, which includes poaching, trafficking and breeding of endangered species, poses immense threats to biodiversity on local and global scales, according to CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.
Hillsborough County Sheriff’s & Medical Examiner’s Offices Team with Othram to Identify a 1995 John Doe (DNASolves – 8/27/2024)
In April 1995, the skeletal remains of an unidentified individual were discovered by fishermen near the northwest corner of Bearss Avenue and I-275 in Tampa, Florida. Tampa is located in Hillsborough County. Deputies with the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene where it was determined that the remains were that of a male. The man was estimated to be between the ages of 56 and 65 years old and stood approximately 5’ 6”. It was determined that the man died of natural causes.
In June 2007, details of the case were entered into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) as UP191. Forensic sketches depicting the likeness of the man were developed and released to the public in hopes that it would generate leads about the man’s identity. Despite extensive efforts by law enforcement investigators to identify the man, no matches were found, and the case went cold due to a lack of investigative leads. He became known as “Bob”. In the summer of 2023, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office Cold Case Unit teamed with Othram to determine if advanced DNA testing could help identify the man.
The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, working with the Hillsborough County Medical Examiner’s Office, submitted forensic evidence to Othram’s laboratory in The Woodlands, Texas in July 2023. Testing at Othram was funded through a state grant, thanks to a collaboration with the Hillsborough County Medical Examiner’s Office. Othram scientists successfully developed a DNA extract from the provided evidence and then used Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing® to build a comprehensive DNA profile for the man. Othram’s in-house forensic genetic genealogy team used the profile in a genetic genealogy search to develop new investigative leads that were returned to law enforcement.
Using this new information, a follow-up investigation was conducted leading investigators to potential relatives of the man. Reference DNA samples were collected from a relative and compared to the DNA profile of the unidentified man. This investigation led to the positive identification of the man, who is now known to be Christopher “Charlie” Mammana, born in 1918.
Solano County Sheriff’s & Coroner’s Offices Team with Othram to Identify a 2001 John Doe (DNASolves – 8/28/2024)
In March 2001, the remains of an unidentified individual were discovered floating in the Minor Slough River on Ryer Island, just north of Rio Vista, California. Rio VIsta is a city which lies southwest of Sacramento and northeast of San Francisco. Investigators responded to the scene where they determined that the remains were that of a white male between the ages of 50 and 60 years old, stood 5’7” tall, and weighed 158 pounds.
At the time of the man’s discovery, investigators found that the man had several tattoos. On the upper-left arm, there was a tattoo of a heart with an arrow through it and a banner, though the name on the banner was indiscernible. The upper-right arm featured a monochrome eagle. On the back, there was a montage of tattoos, including a nude woman seated on a snake, barbed wire, the letters “SS”, a castle, a swastika, a male face with a beard and mustache, a skull, and a tombstone with “RIP”. The identity of the unknown man, also known as John Doe #3 (2001), continued for nearly a year, but he was ultimately laid to rest without being identified.
In March 2016, details of the case were entered into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) as UP17594. Despite extensive efforts by law enforcement investigators to identify the man, no matches were found, and the case went cold due to a lack of investigative leads.
In 2023, the Solano County Coroner’s Office submitted forensic evidence to Othram in The Woodlands, Texas to determine if advanced DNA testing could help identify the man. Othram scientists successfully developed a DNA extract from the forensic evidence, and then used Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing® to build a comprehensive genealogical profile for the unknown man. Othram’s in-house forensic genetic genealogy team then used this profile to conduct genetic genealogy research, ultimately providing new investigative leads to law enforcement.
Using this new information, a follow-up investigation was conducted leading investigators to potential relatives of the man. Reference DNA samples were collected from the potential relatives and compared to the DNA profile of the unknown man. This investigation led to the positive identification of the man, who is now known to be Craig William Ott of Sacramento, California, born September 2, 1956. Ott disappeared in January of 2001 under unknown circumstances.
