Combined with the study of family history, the latest DNA technology has given law enforcement agencies across the country new ways to solve decades-old crimes. In multiple scenarios, the combination has identified killers who have gone undiscovered for decades. Joseph DeAngelo, the “Golden State Killer” arrested in April 2018, is now facing numerous charges of murder and rape that go back several years. DeAngelo was arrested and caught after the police used public genealogy databases to link him to the DNA retrieved from crime scenes.

Similar to DeAngelo, in a second case in Fort Wayne, Indiana, police used genetic genealogy to arrest and charge John Miller. He murdered and sexually assaulted an eight-year-old named April Tinsley in 1988, where the police initially recovered DNA samples at the scene–unable to do much with the samples. Nearly 30 years later, investigators from Fort Wayne were able to make the genetic matches to two brothers living near the area. As the officers ran a DNA test, an exact match was yielded to one of the brothers, John Miller. Sentenced in December, Miller pleaded guilty and is now serving an 80-year long prison sentence.

The same technology used to solve murder cases helped the police find Miller and DeAngelo and had been adopted by genealogists to identify crime victims across the world. Co-founder of the DNA Doe Project, Margaret Press, aims to help identify John and Jane Does. Press stated that her motivation came from her experiences in helping adoptees finding their biological parents. Last year, the DNA Doe Project group helped the Ohio police identify Marcia Sossoman King, whose remains were found in a ditch nearly 40 years ago.

Private DNA test kits such as Ancestry and 23andMe offer users downloads of their genetic codes, which can be uploaded to sites such as GEDMatch. Due to privacy concerns, these private DNA bases are closed to law enforcement. Comparing DNA databases to fingerprint databases include concerns with the way information is collected and handled. As people are fascinated with how easy DNA tests are and how seemingly instant the answers for family history appear, many don’t think of the long-term risks – such as possible privacy violations.

Searching into databases have become an increasingly common way to look for hints into the lives of Jane and John Does. With progress, the DNA Doe Project has helped identify six people who are among the thousands who go missing each year. Not far from the Tinsley and King cases, in Steuben County, Indiana, Detective Chris Emerick headed to the investigation to identify a Jane Doe found in 1999. Using genetic genealogy, Emerick found out more about her background. When her body was found in various stages of decomposition, it’s hard to identify how she died, whether foul play or natural causes. The purpose in identifying her is not to frame or find a culprit for her death, much like the Tinsley case, but also find her clues to get her home.

Genealogy, the line of descent traced continuously from an ancestor constantly evolves to help us solve decades old crimes and unanswered mysteries.