After the DNA match last year and more investigation, including the jail house interview, April 24, 2020 OAKLAND — A 57-year-old man serving a prison term in Nevada for sexual assault has been charged in the Dec. 23, 1981 fatal stabbing and rape of a 16-year-old high school honor student whose body was found in a West Oakland parking lot, according...

"Genetic genealogy has revolutionized law enforcement's ability to solve violent crime" April 24, 202 DNA technology has been used by cold case investigators in California to identify the sole suspect in the 1981 murder of a "developmentally disabled" teenager, police say. The process of "investigative genetic genealogy" recently flagged new leads ...

Officials took Barrios into custody on April 10 for destroying evidence April 13, 2020 THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. (KABC) -- A Ventura County sheriff's deputy has been arrested for allegedly destroying evidence and filing a false report in connection to a drug arrest he made last year. Deputy Richard Barrios, 28, of Camarillo, was arrested in connection ...

70% of Orange County's deputies hadn't booked evidence on time March 15, 2020 Once a law enforcement officer collects evidence of a crime, he or she faces a deadline to get the material back to the station to have it recorded, or "booked," and secured. The reason is simple: The longer a weapon, drugs, video or other evidence sits in a patrol car or...

Detectives would like to identify women in pictures discovered after DNA led to charges in a pair of murders. March 5,2019 Police in Burbank said the women seen in a cache of photographs discovered during a search of an accused serial killer's home could be important clues in the man's upcoming murder trial."I don't know who they are," said Burbank...

After that review we have identified a few additional deputies who were not in compliance with our policy, Enter Article DATE HERE During a Friday briefing of various department topics such as jail reorganization and coronavirus monitoring, Sheriff Don Barnes updated reporters, saying the department was almost half way through reviewing more t...

a citizen complained that a deputy was showing the gruesome images at a Norwalk bar, February 28, 2020 In an attempt to keep the matter under wraps, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department quietly ordered deputies to delete any photos of the Kobe Bryant helicopter crash scene after a citizen complained that a deputy was showing the gruesome ima...

Now 75, wheelchair-bound and in shackles, even after 45 years she recognized him, she told the court. February 7, 2020 Editor's note: This article contains graphic descriptions of crime that some readers may find disturbing. For more than four decades, "Diane Doe" has tried to bury memories of the rape she survived as a teenager in her parents' Pal...

prosecutors have found 91 affected cases so far in their ongoing review of 22,000 cases Enter Article DATE HERE An ongoing crisis over widespread evidence problems at the Orange County Sheriff's Department is heading into court Thursday, as a judge decides whether to unseal records about a deputy who was found to have falsely stated in 74 diff...

​Sheriff's investigators referred 15 deputies to prosecutors to consider for criminal prosecution February 4, 2020 he Orange County Sheriff's Department will review about 22,000 cases associated with an evidence booking scandal involving missing items or evidence improperly booked, Sheriff Don Barnes announced Tuesday. Sheriff's deputies and invest...

Enter Headline here January 29, 2020 FRESNO — Authorities in Fresno announced Wednesday that have filed a murder charge in the rape and killing of a college student 24 years ago. Fresno County District Attorney Lisa Smittcamp announced the charges against Nickey Duane Stane, 52, in the 1996 slaying of 22-year-old Debbie Dorian. Authorities said the...

Officer was arrested Monday for allegedly stealing money from a woman's backpack while officers were conducting enforcement of an illegal cannabis grow facility​ Enter Article DATE HERE LOS ANGELES — A Los Angeles Police Department officer was arrested Monday for allegedly stealing money from a woman's backpack while officers were conducting e...

Internal Sheriff's Department audits – kept secret for two years by the former and current sheriff – had found hundreds of instances of late or missing evidence. January 29, 2020 An ongoing review of Sheriff's Department evidence problems has found 91 cases so far where someone was convicted of a crime but "evidence was either never booked or booke...

"In my 40 years in law enforcement, I cannot think of a case more disturbing than this one January 26, 2020 WOODLAND — In a case they described as "chilling," "heartbreaking" and "senseless," authorities announced Monday the arrest of a man suspected of murdering his own five infant children, including a baby boy discovered in rural Yolo County slo...

Packed with DNA, hair is quickly becoming a powerful source to help catch lawbreakers. January 18, 2020 SANTA CRUZ — When they're planning to rob a liquor store, most criminals think to wear gloves and cover their faces. But few of them commit to shaving their heads to avoid leaving behind even a single strand of hair. In the future, however, they ...

After arguing for years that there was no value in testing the roughly 2,000 untested rape kits in its possession, SDPD eventually began testing certain kits due to pressure from elected decision-makers. January 7, 2020 The longtime manager of the San Diego Police Department's crime lab no longer works for the department. Her departure is the lates...

Police closed the case in 1984 and it went unsolved until 2017, when the department reopened the case and conducted a full review of the evidence, December 16, 2019 New DNA evidence helped La Mesa police solved a nearly 36-year-old cold-case murder, officials announced Monday. La Mesa police said William Mambro was stabbed to death during a residen...

He calls the charge by an assistant public defender 'scandalous conjecture,' insisting he did not hide findings from the damaging audit December 30, 2019 An internal audit showing Orange County sheriff's deputies systemically mishandled evidence arrived in March 2018 while then Undersheriff Don Barnes was campaigning for the sheriff's job. As Barne...

The young girl's death was ruled a homicide. December 12, 2019 After nearly half a century, New Jersey State Police used newly gathered DNA evidence from a hopeful aunt to help investigators in San Francisco identify the remains of a murdered 14-year-old girl. It was Oct. 1, 1976, when a man walking his dog "discovered a hand protruding from the sa...

Enter Headline here November 25, 2019 Orlando police detective Michael Fields was sure he had the break he needed right in front of him to close in on a serial rapist: a list of people whose DNA partially matched the man he hunted. Then the list disappeared. After a year of criticism from privacy advocates and genealogy experts, the owner of a popu...

The first audit looked at almost 99,000 police reports over two years November 29, 2019 A rapidly growing evidence scandal has swept the Orange County Sheriff's Department and threatens to alter the criminal justice landscape in one of California's largest counties, reports the Sacramento Bee. Guilty people could go free, and innocent suspects have...

"The audits determined there were systemic problems with evidence being booked outside policy," November 18, 2019 A defense attorney behind allegations of abuses of a confidential informant program with Orange County's jails is now alleging systemic problems with the booking of evidence in cases, prompting a sheriff's spokeswoman to announce Monday...

Between late 2017 and November 2018, the department screened 313 backlogged kits,... November 4, 2019 As San Diego Police Department crime lab analysts worked their way through backlogged sexual assault kits, dozens of the DNA profiles they entered into a federal database returned matches, giving investigators a potential lead. Those results appear...

Rapid DNA led to finding a Houston man, suspected of killing a coworker in 2000. October 11, 2019 ANAHEIM, CA - A 47-year-old Houston man was behind bars Friday in Anaheim on a murder charge dating back 19 years. Leopoldo Vargas Serrano, who was taken into custody in Texas last month by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, is charged with gu...

"There is absolutely no reason why a rape kit should ever sit untested for months or years when statistics tell us that testing rape kits helps to ensure justice by identifying perpetrators" October 9, 2019 Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill into law requiring law enforcement to test newly collected rape kits promptly in California. Bill SB 22, author...

California police say DNA has helped link a 52-year-old man to eight cold cases -- the rape and murder of a Fresno woman 23 years ago and the sexual assaults of seven Enter Article DATE HERE California police say DNA has helped link a 52-year-old man to eight cold cases -- the rape and murder of a Fresno woman 23 years ago and the sexual assau...

One of the many bills Gov. Gavin Newsom must soon decide to either pass or veto is SB22, which requires counties to submit rape kits to laboratories within 20 days and test them no later than 120 days after collection Octobert 5, 2019 It takes great courage to undergo a forensic rape examination. When a sexual assault survivor is escorted into that...

We have been fighting for statewide regulations to ensure that all kits are tested in a timely manner. September 5, 2019 After a sexual assault, survivors undergo an incredibly invasive procedure, typically involving being examined, swabbed and photographed for several hours. The specific purpose is to collect DNA and other evidence used to identif...

Los Altos police issued a news alert confirming that three officers were exposed to fentanyl while processing evidence. August 12, 2019 A Los Altos police officer was in stable condition Monday (Aug. 12) at a local hospital after being exposed to the narcotic fentanyl earlier in the day, according to press releases from the Santa Clara County Fire ...

A woman is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to revive her lawsuit claiming the city of San Francisco has a pattern and practice of failing to investigate sexual assaults. July 31, 2019 SAN FRANCISCO (CN) – Nine years after she was drugged and raped by a stranger attending a city-sponsored event, a woman is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to revive her l...

"A little over a year ago came this concept of investigative genetic genealogy -- the latest and perhaps the greatest advancement to help law enforcement find the truth and solve violent crime July 7, 2019 SACRAMENTO, Calif. - For more than two decades, all California authorities knew about the man behind three violent sex crimes was his DNA profil...

Shangri La operated as a medical marijuana cooperative at the time of the raids and was closed after Kroll's 2016 arrest June 26, 2019 Three years and nine months after Ventura County Sheriff's detectives raided the marijuana dispensary he leads and his Ojai home, Jeffrey Kroll was told Wednesday the computers, member records and virtually everythi...

This year detectives received a lead that, with the help of the FBI, allowed them to create a genealogical profile that lead them to identify Anderson as a person of interest. May 31, 2019 SANTA ANA (CBSLA) – Thanks to genealogical DNA evidence, a Marine veteran was arrested in New Orleans last week on murder charges in the 43-year-old cold case ki...

The genealogy database that helped authorities track down the alleged Golden State Killer and dozens of other suspects has changed a key policy over privacy concerns, a move that could hamper future criminal investigations. June 11, 2019 The genealogy database that helped authorities track down the alleged Golden State Killer and dozens of other su...

A legal settlement filed Wednesday extends restrictions for three more years on when Los Angeles Police officers or other City workers may remove property that belongs to people experiencing homelessness from streets and sidewalks. May 29, 2019https://www.nbclosangeles.com/investigations/Los-Angeles-Skid-Row-Map-Expands-Homeless-510578381.html As p...

The break came when Santa Clara investigators submitted DNA from the Perlov crime scene to the genealogy website GEDMatch. Enter Article DATE HERE A second Stanford University decades-old cold case has been linked to a man who was arrested six months ago through DNA. Leslie Perlov, a Stanford grad, and Janet Taylor, the daughter of a Stanford ...

The Atwater evidence locker was maintained "sub par at best" without any consistency, proper oversight and included a space at a mini-storage without an alarm, according to a state Department of Justice report. May 10, 2019 The Atwater evidence locker until recently was maintained "sub-par at best" without any consistency, proper oversight and incl...

Authorities described the property as a hoarder's paradise, with guns strewn throughout several of the home's rooms. It took about 30 law enforcement personnel more than 12 hours to remove all the weapons, which included rifles, shotguns, assault weapons and pistols, authorities said. May 10, 2019 A 57-year-old man identified in court records as th...

The oldest evidence Nicks keeps is from a murder case back in the 1970s. May 3, 2019 As you enter the San Diego Superior Court's evidence storage vaults, the sound that greets you is rushing water. Like a spa, or a relaxing fountain. Except this water runs through a pipe overhead labeled sanitary waste. "It's funny until you have to work under it a...

Crediting DNA evidence for the break in the case, police said Lenard Chester, 58, was booked into Ventura County jail Thursday on suspicion of raping and murdering Leah Sarah Bullis, in Oxnard. May 2, 2019 A suspect in an unsolved murder case was arrested nearly four decades after the rape and slaying of an 81-year-old woman, Oxnard police said Thu...

In 2018, authorities, with assistance from the California Department of Justice's familial DNA search team, conducted a familial DNA search to find matches to the evidence. April 18, 2019 After more than 40 years, a suspect in a pair of Atascadero murders has been identified thanks to DNA evidence, the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office announ...

Police in Northern California say they used DNA evidence to arrest a suspect in the 2013 killing of a 94-year-old woman April 11, 2019 UBA CITY, Calif. (AP) - Police in Northern California say they used DNA evidence to arrest a suspect in the 2013 killing of a 94-year-old woman who was brutally murdered in her home. The Sacramento Bee reports that ...

In October of last year, the San Diego Police Cold Case Unit and the San Diego County District Attorney's Office Cold Case Unit asked the FBI's Investigative Genealogy Team for assistance with the case. March 21, 2019 SAN DIEGO (KUSI) – A crime scene DNA match has, at long last, allowed homicide detectives to determine who stabbed a La Jolla mother...

Police have identified a suspect who they believe brutally killed Thomas and Alice Green in their East Bay home almost 40 years ago. March 12, 2019 LIVERMORE, CA — Investigators in Livermore are crediting DNA technology and old-fashioned police work with solving a 1981 double homicide. Thomas and Alice Green were found dead in a bedroom of their Li...

Enter Headline here March 6, 2019 Home » Crime » This Article DA's Rape-Kit Testing Effort Yields Zero Arrests So Far; Half of $1 Million Spent Posted by Ken Stone on In April 2018, San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan announced a $1 million program to test 1,000 backlogged rape kits — aiming to identify DNA and put assailants away. Th...

Linda disappeared July 6, 1973. She was seen walking home from summer school, and her body was found the next day. Enter Article DATE HERE COLORADO SPRINGS — A Colorado man arrested after DNA tied him to the 1973 killing of an 11-year-old California girl has yet to decide if he will fight extradition.. The Colorado Springs Gazette reports 72-y...

Hired a felon as an officer and supplied a gun to a code enforcement officer who failed a psychological exam. Enter Article DATE HERE The termination letter for former Atwater Police Chief Samuel Joseph alleges he did not properly secure the department's evidence locker, routinely bullied or threatened subordinates, hired a felon as an officer...

Enter Headline here February 6, 2019 Southern California cold case investigators announced this week a breakthrough in identifying a 1987 stabbing victim whose hands had been hacked off by her killer. The investigators identified the Jane Doe homicide victim as Tracey Hobson after 31 years using "forensic genealogy techniques," according to the Ora...

The DNA technology company used family trees and narrowed in on Guerrero as a suspect. January 24, 2019 In December 1990, Upton was a manager at the Safeway in Fremont's Irvington neighborhood. Co-workers said he was dependable and was always prompt. "One day, he didn't show up," Blas said. "They got a little bit concerned. Next day he didn't show ...

In August 2018, investigators, partnering with the FBI's Investigative Genealogy Team, submitted DNA f January 12, 2019 Investigators have arrested a man on suspicion of raping two victims — a 9-year-old girl walking home from the store and a woman jogger, both 1990s cold cases from Orange County — after genealogical data led them to the suspect's ...