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TRACE FAMILY LINES TO SOLVE CRIMES
By Heather Polley
What is Investigative Genetic Genealogy?
Investigative Genetic Genealogy (or IGG) is used to identify suspects or victims in criminal cases or unidentified human remains. It combines the use of genetic data from direct-to-consumer companies (like Ancestry.com), DNA from crime scenes and traditional genealogy research. The goal of IGG is to generate new leads for law enforcement on stalled or cold cases. The most well-known cold case solved with IGG was the arrest of the Golden State Killer in 2018. The visibility of this case led to the emergence of IGG as a new subset of forensic genealogy and led to breakthroughs in many cold cases. For instance, one of John Wayne Gacy’s victims was finally identified as Francis ‘Wayne’ Alexander in 2021. His family had reported him missing back in 1976. As of February 2024, over 650 cases have been solved using this method.
How Does it Work?
It is important to note that the U.S. Department of Justice interim policy regarding investigative genetic genealogy states that it can only be used in unsolved violent crime cases. Before IGG can be utilized, a DNA profile collected from the crime scene must be uploaded to CODIS (Combined DNA Index System). CODIS is the FBI’s criminal justice database which contains the DNA profiles of convicted offenders and arrestees. If there are no matches to any existing profiles in the database, the uploaded DNA profile will be saved for future searches. Then, law enforcement must exhaust all other leads and investigative methods. If the case has still not been solved, IGG can finally be used to help solve their case.
The first step in IGG is to upload the crime scene DNA profile to a public genealogy database; either GEDmatch or FamilyTreeDNA. GEDmatch and FamilyTreeDNA give their users the option to share their DNA kit results and family trees with law enforcement. Law enforcement is then able to compare the crime scene DNA to these user profiles that have opted to share information. A list of matches is returned, ordered by the amount of shared DNA between the crime scene profile and the comparable database profiles.
Genealogists begin their research by building clusters of the matches and finding the most recent common ancestors amongst them. After that, they build out the family trees to find the union couples that connect the clusters. From there, they trace the descendants of the union couples and filter it down to potential candidates by looking at age, gender, location of residence when the crime occurred, etc. This filtered down list is given back to law enforcement to investigate each candidate.
To make an arrest or a positive ID, they must lawfully obtain a candidate’s DNA, and it must be an exact match to the crime scene DNA that was originally uploaded to CODIS. In the case of the Golden State Killer, Joseph James DeAngelo’s DNA was obtained from a car door handle. Currently, many states allow private DNA to be gathered from publicly discarded items such as cigarette butts, items in the trash, car door handles, abandoned food, etc. This works under the assumption that you can no longer expect privacy in things you discard. This tactic is not without controversy and has been challenged by the American Civil Liberties Union.
Privacy Concerns
Even though IGG is used to create new leads that can ultimately bring closure and justice to victims and their families, it does bring up an ongoing debate regarding privacy. Most consumers who have taken a DNA test did so to learn about their family history, not to have their information accessed by law enforcement. Currently, genealogy databases aim to keep consumer information private as detailed in their privacy statements, which are worth reading. However, if law enforcement were to issue a genealogy database a valid subpoena, court order, or search warrant for your information, they would be required to comply.
The debate ultimately boils down to this: do the rights of families and victims to obtain justice outweigh the privacy rights of consumers? We will leave this to you to decide for yourself. While this is an exciting use of genealogy, it will be interesting to see how this field develops and how it gets standardized in order to ensure IGG is applied in an ethical manner.
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