At the end of last November, an article was posted on this blog that related to the use of genealogy websites by police to find and catch criminals utilizing DNA submitted by users, many from cold cases that were at one time considered unsolvable.
The article told the story of the arrest of Benjamin Lee Holmes who allegedly murdered a University of Central Florida student named Christine Franke in October, 2001.
The case had gone cold for close to eighteen years.
Over the past few decades or so, a vast amount of genealogy Websites have become popular to the public. For a moderate fee, these companies will send you a kit where a person can submit their DNA for testing which is analyzed in their labs.
Most people that use these services are curious about their heritage and want to track their family tree going back generations. But they’ve also become a treasure trove of potential evidence for law enforcement agencies.
The use of a DNA profile, commonly known as a DNA fingerprint has come a long way since its acceptance as a means of identification since it was first introduced into the legal system back in the mid 1980’s.
South Florida Criminal Attorneys Blog