02-23-2019, 02:29 PM
Another case solved, this one from 1973, by DNA evidence. An 11 year old girl, Linda Ann O'Keefe, had disappeared while walking home from summer school in Newport Beach, CA. Her body was found nearby the following day.
"....detectives still couldn’t put a name with the computer sketch. They had checked the DNA against databases of convicted felons over the years but continued to come up empty-handed.
That changed in January when investigators tapped FamilyTreeDNA.com, a genealogical database that the public can use to search for relatives and ancestors.
Private companies that provide ancestry searches from DNA samples submitted by paying participants usually also guarantee privacy for their users. However, customers are alerted to potential matches and can then use the service to connect with possible relatives.
“Anybody who uploads DNA thinking, ‘Maybe I’ll discover a long-lost relative,’ is running the risk that the DNA will be used in a police investigation,” said David Kaye, a lawyer and Pennsylvania State University professor who teaches the law of evidence and applications of forensic science.
“You also run the risk of finding out that one of your known relatives is a killer.”
https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-m...story.html
"....detectives still couldn’t put a name with the computer sketch. They had checked the DNA against databases of convicted felons over the years but continued to come up empty-handed.
That changed in January when investigators tapped FamilyTreeDNA.com, a genealogical database that the public can use to search for relatives and ancestors.
Private companies that provide ancestry searches from DNA samples submitted by paying participants usually also guarantee privacy for their users. However, customers are alerted to potential matches and can then use the service to connect with possible relatives.
“Anybody who uploads DNA thinking, ‘Maybe I’ll discover a long-lost relative,’ is running the risk that the DNA will be used in a police investigation,” said David Kaye, a lawyer and Pennsylvania State University professor who teaches the law of evidence and applications of forensic science.
“You also run the risk of finding out that one of your known relatives is a killer.”
https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-m...story.html