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!
Toronto Police Service Teams with Othram to Identify a 2017 Toronto Jane Doe (DNASolves – 5/22/2024)
In August 2017, the remains of an unidentified individual were discovered in Lake Ontario near Humber Bay Shores in Toronto, Ontario. Investigators were called to the scene and determined the remains were that of a female between 48 and 72 years old. The individual had short white hair, brown eyes, and bilateral mammoplasty scars at the time of discovery. The female remains were transported to the Toronto Police Service for examination where it was determined that there were no signs of foul play and her manner of death was ruled as undetermined.
Several items were found in the vicinity of the woman’s remains, but none of them provided clues to her identity. Despite continuous efforts by law enforcement to identify the woman, no leads yielded a match and the case went cold.
In 2022, the Toronto Police Service submitted forensic evidence to Othram in The Woodlands, Texas in hopes that advanced DNA testing could help to identify the individual. Othram scientists used Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing® to build a comprehensive DNA profile for the unknown woman. Once the profile was developed, it was returned to the Toronto Police Service for use in a forensic genetic genealogy search to develop new leads in the case.
Using this new information, a follow-up investigation was conducted leading investigators to potential relatives of the woman throughout North America, most of whom traced their heritage to a specific region in Switzerland. In August 2023, members of the Toronto Police Service, with the assistance of the RCMP Liaison Program, reached out to police in Switzerland. Through continued collaboration, the investigation focused on a woman who was reported missing in Switzerland in September 2017. As the woman’s death is not considered a criminal matter, the woman’s identity is not being released.
Othram Announces Project 525 to Identify Missing and Murdered Children (PRWeb – 5/23/2024)
Othram, the leading forensic sequencing laboratory for law enforcement, is proud to announce the launch of a new project focused on the identification of five hundred twenty-five unidentified children. The project name and initial scope commemorates National Missing Children’s Day, held each year on May 25.
National Missing Children’s Day highlights the urgency of protecting children and reconnecting missing children with their families. This day raises awareness about the vulnerabilities children face and emphasizes the need for swift and effective action to identify remains and solve cases of missing children, who are nearly always the victims of crimes.
The importance of a nationwide repository for resources to resolve long-term missing persons and unidentified human remains cases cannot be overstated. Since 2022, Othram has worked in collaboration with the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs), a program of the National Institute of Justice managed by RTI International, providing the program with cutting-edge genomic tools and genealogical research to help provide resolution to missing and unidentified cases across the country.
You Leave a ‘Microbe Fingerprint’ on Every Piece of Clothing You Wear – and it Could Help Forensic Scientists Solve Crimes (The Conversation – 5/23/2024)
When you think of a criminal investigation, you might picture detectives meticulously collecting and analysing evidence found at the scene: weapons, biological fluids, footprints and fingerprints. However, this is just the beginning of an attempt to reconstruct the events and individuals involved in the crime.
At the heart of the process lies the “principle of exchange” formulated by the French criminologist Edmond Locard in the early 1900s, which states that “every contact leaves a trace”. The transfer of materials between the parties involved in a crime (the victim, the perpetrator, objects, the environment) forms the basis for reconstructing the events.
In Locard’s time, these traces were typically things you could see with a magnifying glass or microscope, such as pollen, sand and fibres. However, such evidence is limited because much of it is not directly associated with a specific individual.
In our latest research, we have shown how the population of bacteria on a person’s skin leaves traces on the clothes they wear – and how these traces last for months and can be used to uniquely identify the wearer.
Marietta Police Department and Cobb County Medical Examiner Team with Othram to Identify a 1993 Jane Doe (DNASolves – 5/23/2024)
In June 1993, the skeletal remains of an unidentified individual were discovered on a construction site in Marietta, Georgia. Marietta is just northwest of Atlanta. The Marietta Police Department responded to the scene. The individual’s remains were transported to the Cobb County Medical Examiner who determined that the remains were that of a white female who was estimated to be 5’ 3” tall and weighed 100 pounds. The woman was between the ages of 25 and 30 years old. She wore a multicolored bead earring, hip length short sleeve jacket, white halter top with an orange-pink diamond print design, and lightweight blouse-like slacks. There was also a safety pin for her slacks located near the remains.
In 2012, details of the case were entered into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) as UP10604. Despite extensive efforts by law enforcement investigators to identify the woman, no matches were found, and the case went cold due to a lack of viable leads.
In January 2022, the Marietta Police Department submitted forensic evidence to Othram in The Woodlands, Texas. Othram scientists successfully developed a DNA extract from the forensic evidence, and used Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing® to build a comprehensive genealogical profile for the homicide victim. 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 woman. This investigation led to the positive identification of the woman, whose identity is not being released at this time, at the request of the agency and the family.
Marion County Coroner’s Office Teams with Othram to Identify a 2022 John Doe (DNASolves – 5/25/2024)
In November 2022, skeletal remains were discovered in an abandoned residence in Indianapolis, Indiana near E 30th Street and N Sherman Drive. Investigators were called to the scene and determined that the partial skeletal remains were that of a black male estimated to be no older than 50 years of age. No other identifying characteristics could be determined. Alongside the individual’s remains, investigators found paperwork and pamphlets that date back to 2012.
Despite investigators’ efforts, the man could not be identified, and he was classified as John Doe. Details of the case were entered into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) as #UP98225. The Marion County Coroner’s Office is now seeking to utilize advanced DNA technology in hopes of providing new leads about the man’s identity.
In 2024, the Marion County Coroner’s Office once again teamed with Othram to determine if advanced forensic DNA testing could help establish an identity for the man or a close relative. Marion County Coroner’s office previously partnered with Othram to identify Randy Carl Lee and Patricia Anna Anderson. Anyone with information that could aid in this investigation is encouraged to contact the Marion County Coroner’s Office by calling 317-327-4744 and referencing agency case 22-3956 or NamUs ID #UP98225.
ISP Recognizes Leadership In Sexual Assault Forensic Work
(Effingham Radio – 5/26/2024)
Illinois State Police (ISP) Director Brendan F. Kelly and ISP Division of Forensic Services Deputy Director Robin Woolery accepted Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault (ICASA) Moxie Awards for their exemplary work on behalf of sexual assault survivors. Under the Governor JB Pritzker administration, and Director Kelly’s and Deputy Director Woolery’s leadership, ISP has been able to comply with the Illinois Sexual Assault Evidence Submission Act for the first time since it went into effect in 2010.
Military Labs Do the Detective Work to Identify Soldiers Decades After They Died in World War II (NBC News – 5/27/2024)
Generations of American families have grown up not knowing exactly what happened to their loved ones who died while serving their country in World War II and other conflicts.
But a federal lab tucked away above the bowling alley at Offutt Air Force Base near Omaha and a sister lab in Hawaii are steadily answering those lingering questions, aiming to offer 200 families per year the chance to honor their relatives with a proper burial.
“They may not even have been alive when that service member was alive, but that story gets carried down through the generations,” said Carrie Brown, a Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency lab manager at Offutt. “They may have seen on the mantle a picture of that person when they were little and not really understood or known who they were.”
Memorial Day and the upcoming 80th anniversary of D-Day on June 6 are reminders of the urgency of Brown’s work. The forensic anthropologists, medical examiners and historians who work together to identify lost soldiers are in a race against time as remains buried on battlefields around the globe deteriorate.
But advances in DNA technology, combined with innovative techniques including comparing bones to chest X-rays taken by the military, mean the labs can identify more of the missing soldiers every year. Some 72,000 World War II soldiers remain unaccounted for, along with roughly 10,000 more from all the conflicts since. The experts believe about half of those are recoverable.
Arizona’s “Windbreaker” John Doe: Identity Confirmed After 37 Years (Forensic – 5/28/2024)
Intermountain Forensics is honored to join the Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner, CES, LLC, and a dedicated group of forensic investigative genetic genealogists in announcing the identification of Windbreaker John Doe 1986 through our forensic investigative genetic genealogy labwork. It is a privilege to help restore his identity after more than 37 years. Respecting the family’s wishes, we will not be disclosing his identity publicly at this time.
We are deeply grateful to the Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner (AZ) for entrusting us with this important work. We would also like to thank CES, LLC for their generous funding, which made this effort possible.
Ventura County Sheriff’s Office & Medical Examiner’s Office Team with Othram to Identify a 1985 Jane Doe (DNASolves – 5/29/2024)
In October 1985, the partial skeletal remains of an unidentified individual were discovered in a plastic bag near Channel Islands Harbor in Oxnard, California. Oxnard is just west of downtown Los Angeles. The Ventura County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene and it was determined that the remains were that of a female, between the ages of 35 and 50 years old at her time of death. No other identifying information for the woman was available.
In 2016, details of the case were entered into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) as UP15170. A clay facial reconstruction was developed and released to the public in hopes that it would generate new leads in the case. For many years, investigators followed leads and made comparisons in an attempt to identify the Jane Doe. Despite extensive efforts by law enforcement investigators to identify the woman, no matches were found, and the case went cold due to a lack of viable leads.
In May 2023, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office-Cold Case Unit in collaboration with the Ventura County Medical Examiner’s Office, submitted forensic evidence to Othram in the Woodlands, Texas to determine if advanced DNA testing could help identify the woman. Othram scientists successfully developed a DNA extract from the provided evidence and used Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing® to build a comprehensive DNA profile for the unknown woman. Othram’s in-house forensic genetic genealogy team then used this profile to conduct extensive 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 woman. A reference sample was collected from a potential relative and compared to the DNA profile of the woman, which led to the positive identification of the woman, who is now known to be Gertrude Elliott-Littlehale, born in 1864. While Elliott-Littlehale died in 1915 and was buried, law enforcement received a tip several decades ago that a grave had been robbed and a skull was taken. This was Elliot-Littlehale’s grave that had been disturbed. Despite Elliott-Littlehale having died nearly 110 years ago, Othram scientists were able to successfully extract DNA from these skeletal remains, build an ultra-sensitive DNA profile, and perform the genealogical research to identify Elliott-Littlehale’s displaced remains.
Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office Teams with Othram to Identify a 2006 John Doe (DNASolves – 5/29/2024)
In October 2006, the skeletal remains of an unidentified individual were discovered on privately-owned land in a redwood forest in Fieldbrook, California. Fieldbrook is a town just north of Eureka in Humboldt County. The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office (HSCO) responded to the scene, where they conducted an investigation and concluded that there was no physical evidence to indicate foul play.
HCSO transported the remains to the University of California at Santa Cruz, where forensic anthropologists conducted an examination of the remains. It was determined that the man had a condition known as “surfer’s ear” which suggested that he had regular exposure to cold water as it is often observed in divers, surfers, and ocean swimmers. The man had a healed left nasal bone fracture as well as evidence of trauma in multiple cervical and thoracic vertebrae. Details of the case were entered into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) as UP17370. No match was found, and the case went cold due to a lack of viable leads.
In 2022, the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office submitted forensic evidence to Othram in the Woodlands, Texas to determine if advanced DNA testing could help identify the man. Othram scientists used Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing® to build a comprehensive DNA profile for the unknown man. Upon completion of the process, the profile was transferred to investigators for the development of new leads via a forensic genetic genealogy search.
Using this new information, a follow-up investigation was conducted leading investigators to potential relatives of the man. This investigation led to the positive identification of the man, who is now known to be Freddie Earl Long, born April 13, 1943. Freddie Long, who was 50 years old when he disappeared, was last seen living in the Big Bar, CA area. Long used the alias “Cowboy Fred.”
