To catch him, law enforcement agencies tapped into the increasingly popular field of consumer DNA testing; they searched a free online database where anyone can share data from at-home genetic tests to hunt for familial matches. February 1, 2019 Detectives in Oregon solved a 40-year-old cold case with the help a popular ancestry and genealogy datab...

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...

Detectives used forensic genealogy to map familial lines through DNA collected from the crime scene January 31, 2019 Portland's Cold Case Homicide Detail announced the identification of the person it says is responsible for the 40-year-old murder case of Anna Marie Hlavka. Twenty-year-old Hlavka was found dead after being sexually assaulted in her ...

North Carolina authorities said through advances in forensic science and contacting members of the victims' family trees they were able to determine the woman was the mother of the young male victim. February 6, 2019 (WYFF/NBC News) Investigators have identified a mother and son found dead at two separate crime scenes more than 20 years ago. The wo...

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 ...

Authorities said Mason died in a vehicle accident in 2015, a year before he was identified as the homicide suspect. November 20, 2018 TRACY — The Tracy Police Department has closed an almost decade-old homicide cold case, but said the suspect is dead. Police announced this week that 72-year-old James Mason is the lone suspect in the killing of his ...

"We now feel confident that the man identified as Michael Sumpter entered Jane's apartment through the window, assaulted her, murdered her in her bed and then fled the apartment," Ryan told reporters Tuesday. Enter Article DATE HERE Investigators finally have cracked a cold case murder that has haunted the Boston area for almost 50 years. The ...

The case file on the shooting contains Florida Department of Law Enforcement documents that link a DNA profile matching Sangster to swabs of the interior of the vehicle in which Allen was found, according to the report. Enter Article DATE HERE Two men argued in a vehicle. A gun went off. Then the passenger pushed the victim's body aside and to...

Police took DNA samples from semen left by the killer and interviewed several suspects who had seen her early that morning. September 20, 2019 Colorado Springs police have taken one step closer to solving a decades-old cold case with the arrest of a 46-year-old man in connection with the alleged rape and killing of Mary Lynn Vialpondo, police chief...

His DNA was entered into the national database after an arrest in 2014 for armed robbery in Florida September 10, 2018 A 40-year-old man was recently sentenced to 25 years to life for the murder of a 17-year-old Bushwick resident. Sharabia Thomas was murdered in 2004 according to a report in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. "Thanks to DNA technology and h...

A DNA analysis of cells found on the victim's fingernails, conducted in 2016, was a match to the defendant, August 23, 2018 Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez on Tuesday announced that a 40-year-old man has been convicted of the murder of Sharabia Thomas, a teenager from Bushwick who was killed in 2004. A DNA analysis of cells found on the vi...

As the years went by and scientific advancements were developed in DNA analysis, a DNA profile of the suspect, August 16, 2018 MIAMI (CBS12) — A 50-year-old man was arrested in connection to a cold case murder from 1990, Miami-Dade police said. Lucio Leon, of Hialeah, was shot and killed Mar. 2, 1990 while walking near his restaurant, "Tuyo y Mio" ...

The doctor said he took it upon himself to personally take a swab sample from inside her vagina and put it on a slide for future use, Enter Article DATE HERE OAKLAND — It's been nearly 40 years since Betty Elias was found dead in her room on San Pablo Avenue. Wednesday her alleged killer was held to answer for her murder. Dennis Ray Eagle, 57,...

Police departments for decades disagreed over whether attacks spanning the state over more than a decade were committed by a single man. August 13, 2018 Claude Snelling woke in the night 42 years ago to find a man in his Visalia backyard trying to abduct his 16-year-old daughter. He tried to intervene and was fatally shot. Tulare County prosecutors...

John D. Miller, 59, was arrested Saturday outside of his home in Grabill, Indiana. July 15, 2018 FORT WAYNE, Ind. — More than 30 years after the body of 8-year-old April Tinsley was found in a northern Indiana ditch, police have made an arrest in the case. John D. Miller, 59, was arrested Saturday outside of his home in Grabill, Indiana. Fort Wayne...

Michella's murder is just one cold case that heated up this year thanks to the cutting-edge combination of DNA and genetic genealogy. June 30, 2018 On March 26, 1986, sixth-grader Michella Welch disappeared while at a Washington state park with her two young sisters, never to be seen alive again. The 12-year-old's body was found that night; she had...

Joe Latta, executive director of the International Association for Property and Evidence. "The older it gets, the more difficult it gets to run it down, Enter Article DATE HERE "I want to know who killed my sister, and why did they just leave it go like she was nothing?" Bishop asked during an interview with the Journal Sentinel. "Who is accou...

Hawaii County police attribute the loss of DNA evidence in two separate high-profile 2016 criminal cases to rodents June 11, 2018 KAILUA-KONA — The safety and integrity of collected police evidence has been called into question as reports of lost and stolen evidence from storage lockers have come to light. Hawaii County police attribute the loss of...

Making its way through Congress is a federal bill worked on by Ventura County District Attorney Greg Totten that would allow grant funding for the prosecution of violent cold cases with DNA evidence. Enter Article DATE HERE Making its way through Congress is a federal bill worked on by Ventura County District Attorney Greg Totten that would al...

An important break came once again as a result of DNA sleuthing techniques similar to the ones used last month to crack the Golden State killer case. May 18, 2018 In 1987, Jay Cook, 20, and Tanya Van Cuylenborg, 18, a couple from Canada, were brutally killed while they were vacationing in Washington State. On Friday, the Snohomish County sheriff's ...

The arrest of the alleged Golden State Killer and a case currently before the court both raise questions about Fourth Amendment rights in the digital age. Enter Article DATE HERE Several years ago, the Supreme Court considered the case of Alonzo Jay King Jr. Arrested in an assault in Maryland, he ended up being charged and convicted in an unso...

Enter Headline here Enter Article DATE HERE SACRAMENTO, California (AP) — More than three decades after his trail went cold, one of California's most prolific serial killers and rapists was caught by using online genealogical sites to find a DNA match, prosecutors said Thursday. Investigators compared the DNA collected from a crime scene of th...

Cold case investigators in Washington state have released DNA-generated composite sketches of a suspect in the unsolved slayings of a young Canadian couple three decades ago. April 21, 2018 Cold case investigators in Washington state have released DNA-generated composite sketches of a suspect in the unsolved slayings of a young Canadian couple thre...

Sheriff's Office said the body was identified through DNA testing as 21-year-old Marcia King of Arkansas. She died of strangulation and blunt force trauma to the head. April 12, 2018 TROY, Ohio -- A body that was discovered in a ditch along an Ohio roadway 37 years ago has been identified as an Arkansas woman through the use of "revolutionary" DNA ...

Nearly 40 years later, the 70-year-old man has a slew of powerful voices behind him as he fights to correct the injustice of having spent more than half of his life in prison for a grisly double murder he didn't commit. Feb 15, 2018 For years, from inside a cell at Folsom State Prison, Craig Coley couldn't get anyone to listen. But his message was ...

Eugene Police say investigators have connected three cold-case homicides thanks to advances in DNA technolog Enter Article DATE HERE EUGENE, Ore. - Eugene Police say investigators have connected three cold-case homicides thanks to advances in DNA technology, the department said Friday. Police did not identify the cases. A press conference on t...

or 29 years, the murder of a 27-year-old woman near Lake Pleasant went unsolved. Now, there is a suspect. Enter Article DATE HERE The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office announced Tuesday that it arrested 55-year-old Donald Lee Scott for the December 10, 1988, slaying of Anne Levee, who had been shot multiple times when deputies found her. It was...

On Tuesday, a Coca-Cola can led to the arrest of a man who police believe may have raped and murdered a teenager in 1989. December 15, 2017 Almost 30 years ago, Mandy Stavik, 18, went missing after taking a jog with her German shepherd the day after Thanksgiving. She was a freshman at Central Washington University and was home on break visiting fam...

Donnie London, 60, was arrested and booked with first-degree murder Wednesday (Jan. 20) in connection with the death of Elma Kolman, 73, after DNA testing linked him to her death 31 years later. December 11, 2017 Donnie London, 60, was arrested and booked with first-degree murder Wednesday (Jan. 20) in connection with the death of Elma Kolman, 73, ...

Persistence and DNA lead to the killer, who died in prison in 2002 November 6, 2017 SALEM — The persistence of a detective and the sister of a young woman who was stabbed and beaten has solved a murder in Oregon — 38 years after it happened. On March 9, 1979, Janie Landers disappeared outside the Fairview Training Center for the developmentally dis...

In April 2016, the crime lab confirmed a blood stain on the shirt matched a man's DNA. Enter Article DATE HERE More than 38 years after Janie Landers was brutally stabbed and beaten to death, an Oregon State Police detective was finally able to return a pair of earrings to her family and deliver the news they'd long waited to hear: He knew who...

Blood samples from Maciag's family members helped secure a search warrant October 16, 2017 SCHENECTADY, N.Y. (NEWS10) – The Schenectady County District Attorney's Office announced Monday that 1995 cold cases have been solved thank to DNA matches. According to District Attorney Bob Carney, 17-year-old Suzanne Nauman's murder has been solved. The gir...

Remains were identified more than two decades later through DNA September 27, 2017 PALM DESERT, Calif. - A Northern California man is awaiting trial on charges of murdering another man's romantic rival from Palm Desert, whose remains were identified more than two decades later through DNA, which was also used to link the accused killer-for-hire to ...

DNA evidence, testing leads to conviction in 23-year-old case September 21, 2017 A jury recommended Thursday that a man spend the rest of his life in prison for the beating death of a woman inside her north Tulsa residence more than 23 years ago, which he was linked to in 2014 through upgraded DNA testing. The jury deliberated about 4½ hours before...

DNA testing helped develop a profile of the suspect September 13, 2017 (KMSP) - A St. Louis Park man has been charged with second degree murder after DNA evidence connected him to a 1983 rape and murder case. 62-year-old Darrell Bruce Rea faces 40 years in prison. Around 10:30 a.m. April 2, 1983, officers were dispatched to the Soo Line Railroad tr...

"I think it is important to recognize how DNA plays in a case" September 7, 2017 Police found Gary Jenkins beaten, stabbed, and wrapped in a comforter inside his Sharon Hill home on May 7, 2007. Back then, no one brought up Izena Goudy as a possible suspect in the 45-year-old man's death, Delaware County District Attorney John J. Whelan said. But o...

The mystery of her murder lingered for nearly half a century, outlasting several detectives and potential suspects. August 27, 2017 It should have been an ordinary errand: a trip to a Mid-Wilshire drug store to buy a hair dryer. Wendy Jo Halison drove her prized green Thunderbird down Fairfax Avenue on that Sunday afternoon in 1968, stopping at the...

Blood found on a weapon used by Forrest was recently determined to be Martha Morrison, a 17-year-old Portland girl whose body was found in rural Clark County more than 40 years ago. August 24, 2017 Clark County detectives say that new DNA evidence helps link suspected serial killer Warren Forrest to two more victims, a huge discovery in helping to ...

The city is pursuing an ambitious and expensive plan to collect and test DNA from every gun recovered by police Enter Article DATE HERE wo New York police officers were sitting in a patrol car one night last August when they saw Avree Lamar, a 19-year-old with an open arrest warrant, climb into a cab near a housing project in Red Hook, Brookly...

Viengkeo K. Sundara, 49, faces a first-degree felony charge of murder for the stabbing death of Youthalouth Oudanonh during a dance at 120 W 1300 S in Salt Lake City back in 1991. July 10 , 2017 SALT LAKE CITY – Police have arrested a man in a Salt Lake City murder case that has been cold for 26 years. Viengkeo K. Sundara, 49, faces a first-degree ...

Enter Headline here July 31, 2017 The 2001 attack was vicious. In August, a 31-year-old Memphis woman was walking along Thomas Street, an empty stretch of road drilling through an industrial area north of downtown. A man approached, forced her off the road, and stabbed a metal object up under her chin so hard it stuck to the roof of her mouth. Then...

A 52-year-old man accused of fatally stabbing an acquaintance whose body turned up in an East County field nearly 31 years ago pleaded not guilty Tuesday to a murder charge. June 13, 2017 EL CAJON (CNS) - A 52-year-old man accused of fatally stabbing an acquaintance whose body turned up in an East County field nearly 31 years ago pleaded not guilty...

Fingerprints found on a box of cake mix and a can of frosting prompted police to arrest the well-known French Quarter "human statue. May 24, 2017 Bobby Farah was a child when his father was shot and killed on May 22, 1974, in an attempted armed robbery at his Jacksonville grocery store. As the decades rolled by, the son, three sisters and Freddie F...

Being accused of a crime is pretty crappy, but that's no reason to poop on a search warrant. May 18, 2017 He's accused of attempted murder, but it's what allegedly did afterwards that's raising a stink. Being accused of a crime is pretty crappy, but that's no reason to poop on a search warrant. That's what a Florida man accused of shooting at a Dee...

The sheriff's statement says cold case investigators in 2014 began reviewing the death and linked DNA evidence to Edds, April 27, 2017 HOUSTON - Investigators say a review of DNA evidence in the 1976 fatal stabbing of a Houston man has led to an arrest nearly 41 years later. According to the Harris County Sheriff's Office, David Lee Edds, 61, was t...

Nearly 20 years later, with the advent of DNA technology, Sledge began to write authorities letter after letter, asking that the evidence used to convict him be tested so he could prove his innocence. April 21 ,2107 BLADEN COUNTY, NC (WECT) - A lawsuit filed against Bladen County by a wrongfully incarcerated man could cost the county millions of do...

Last fall, a DNA sample collected in Ohio helped Indiana police link a man to the fatal shooting of John Clements, 82, in Zionsville, and two other attacks in October. Enter Article DATE HERE By DARCY COSTELLO, Associated Press INDIANAPOLIS (AP) —  Indiana senators voted Thursday to allow DNA swabs to be taken upon a person's felony arres...

Bell was first arrested in 1981; however, he was eventually let go due to a lack of evidence. But advances in technology provided the proof needed to bring him to justice. April 2, 2017 alk about a long-lasting piece of gum. A 60-year-old British man was convicted of manslaughter in March after investigators pulled traces of his DNA from a 36-year-...

The 30-year-old cold case, which led to the filing of charges against Withers on Thursday, was solved after additional DNA testing of the fingernails of the victim, March 16, 2017 In 1987, several days after pleading guilty to a string of burglaries in St. Paul's Macalester-Groveland neighborhood — and being released from jail a day later — Michael...