In 1976, the remains of a young woman who had been raped and murdered were found in the woods in Baltimore County. For four decades, she was known only as “Woodlawn Jane Doe.” Recently, she was finally identified as Margaret Fetterolf, a 16-year-old from Alexandria, Virginia. What broke the case open was a powerful relatively new law enforcement tool called forensic genetic genealogy, or FGG.
The field of genetic genealogy began with the intention of helping people learn about their heritage and family histories. In the last few decades, Direct to Consumer (DTC) genetic testing companies, such as 23andMe and AncestryDNA, have used DNA testing with traditional genealogy techniques (visiting local libraries, examining birth and death records, oral history, etc.) to provide users with information about their family tree and history.
Forensic genetic genealogy combines a specific type of DNA analysis using hundreds of thousands of genetic markers where profiles for use in DNA databases such as CODIS usually use 20 markers. New advanced DNA testing methods allow for analysis of very small, degraded DNA samples — which traditional crime labs cannot do—making it useful in very old cases, including homicide, missing persons, and unidentified deceased. These samples are then searched against the genetic profiles of people in the DTC DNA databases (with their prior permission to use their DNA for this use). Distant or close relatives can be discovered and then genealogists employ their research skills to identify the closest relative. Law enforcement use traditional detective work to figure out if that person may have had a brother, uncle, cousin that could have been in the location at the time the crime was committed. FGG generates leads for law enforcement in cases that have not been able to be solved using available DNA databases at the federal, state and local levels. FGG can of course be used for current cases; it’s not limited to cold cases. In fact, if law enforcement could use this tool more frequently, dangerous offenders would be identified sooner and crimes prevented.
In recent years, law enforcement has been able to use FGGs to solve crimes that have been stumping detectives for decades. The best candidate cases are unsolved violent crimes, such as homicides and sexual assaults, in which no match resulted in CODIS and DNA evidence is still available for additional testing. Unidentified human remains cases are also good candidates when no direct reference or relative matches have been made in CODIS. Investigators interested in forensic genealogy have usually exhausted all other leads in the investigation
The most well-known case involving the use of investigative forensic genealogy led to the arrest of Joseph DeAngelo. More commonly known as the Golden State Killer, DeAngelo is thought to have committed at least 13 murders, more than 50 rapes, and over 100 burglaries in California from 1974 to 1986. Police investigators and genealogists were able to submit DNA from a rape kit onto a DTC website called GEDmatch. From there, they constructed a family tree and were able to identify DeAngelo as one of the main suspects. They confirmed a DNA match by obtaining samples from DeAngelo’s car door and testing it against the rape kit.
Genetic genealogy allows investigators to find suspects beyond regular law enforcement databases, including state and federal DNA databases. With genealogy websites, even if an individual does not submit their DNA , all it takes is a distant relative using that website, perhaps someone unknown to the suspect, to spark a match that can further an investigation.
Case Studies
Fort Wayne Killer
In the spring of 1988, an eight-year-old girl named April Tinsley went missing from her home in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Three days later, her body was found 20 miles outside of town. She had been raped and murdered. After Tinsley’s death, her unknown killer continued to torture the town, leaving notes bragging about the crime or threatening other young girls and leaving baggies with used condoms. The semen in the condoms matched the DNA found at the crime scene but no perpetrator could be identified.
30 years later, investigators decided to try the new methods used in the Golden State Killer case and they contacted the Virginia-based DNA company Parabon Nanolabs. Parabon used the old crime scene DNA to create a profile that they uploaded to GEDMatch. The website returned 12 matches of relatives, which genetic genealogist CeCe Moore used to build a family tree and eventually circled in on two brothers as suspects. Moore landed on one brother as the most likely suspect and worked with Indiana investigators to examine the facts. Indiana authorities waited outside the suspect’s trailer, took a piece of discarded trash that might contain his DNA, and matched the DNA to the crime scene from 1988. Police arrested 59-year-old John Dale Miller, who immediately admitted to his crimes and pled guilty to the abduction, rape, and murder of April Tinsley.
Ramsey Street Rapist
From March 2006 until January 2008, an unknown serial rapist plagued Fayetteville, North Carolina. Investigators were unable to identify a suspect in the six sexual assaults for over a decade, until learning about new genetic genealogy techniques in 2018. The Fayetteville Police Department decided to contact Parabon Labs for their forensic genealogy services. Parabon again used GEDMatch to upload the unknown suspect’s DNA and find a list of matches.
In August 2018, the Fayetteville Police Department Arrested Darold Wayne Bowden, who faces dozens of criminal charges in connection with six rape investigations, including multiple counts of first-degree forcible rape, first-degree burglary and felony larceny.