Genetic Genealogy has grown in popularity over the years as it has become more advanced. As testing has become easier and more affordable, law enforcement has begun to utilize it more often to solve cases that went cold for years. In simple terms, Genetic genealogy is testing DNA to find relationships between individuals via genetic matches, which can lead to discovering a person’s ancestry. Some of the most famous unsolved cases have now come to a close thanks to the latest advancements in genetic genealogy.
The Golden State Killer
The most well-known case that has been unsolved from 1974-1986 came to an end when Joseph James DeAngelo was arrested in 2018 and charged with 13 counts of murder. Through public genealogy databases investigators were able to use data obtained from the victims’ relatives which led them closer until they finally were able to get DeAngelo. They used his discarded garbage such as napkins to obtain his DNA and find a match. The DNA had connected DeAngelo to 13 murders, 51 sexual assaults, and 120 burglaries. In 2020, he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The infamous Golden State Killer was found thanks to the use of genetic genealogy.
The Murder and Assault of Judy Loomis
The Snohomish County Sheriff’s Department was haunted by the case of Judy Loomis for over 47 years. In August of 1972, Loomis’ body was discovered. She was lying near a dirt road with one gunshot wound above her right ear. At the time, DNA evidence was taken from her body and boots. It was preserved until 2019 when there was a break in the case. The evidence was submitted by investigators for genetic genealogy identification and came back with a link to 78-year-old Terrence Miller. He had lived only 17 minutes from where Loomis’ body was found which gave investigators a pretty strong indication that they had their guy. This led to officers arresting and charging Miller with first-degree murder. Before he was able to be convicted by a jury, however, Miller took his own life.
The Boy In The Box
A crime that haunted Philadelphia police for more than six decades finally ended in 2022 when DNA was tested through databases. In February of 1957 the boy, who was identified as being four years old, had been found inside a JCPenny bassinet box in a wooded area on the side of a road in Philadelphia’s Fox Chase neighborhood. The police said he had been beaten to death and was malnourished at the time he was discovered. Even after his face was up on every corner of the city, they still were unable to identify him until recently. He was identified as Joseph Augustus Zarelli.
As DNA technology and genetic genealogy continue to advance, there are sure more cases to be solved. Famously, the murder of JonBenét Ramsey, a pageant queen who was killed in Boulder, Colorado in 1996 at the age of six remains unsolved. Her father, John Ramsey, called on investigators to use the latest technology, “There’s been a number of old, old cold cases solved using this genealogy research,” Ramsey stated in an interview with ABC. “Let’s do a reverse family tree and see if he (the killer) had a relative living in Boulder in 1996. That’s what we’re asking the police to do.”
It seems investigators will continue working with genetic genealogy to uncover the mysteries of cold cases. Hopefully, this technology will bring about justice and closure to victims and their families who have waited decades for answers.
Works Cited:
https://www.forensicscolleges.com/blog/resources/10-cold-cases-solved
