The following is a personal opinion written by C. Philip Byers, a former sheriff in Rutherford County, N.C.:
Every year, thousands of murders in the United States remain unsolved. Today, there are 300,000 cold cases on the books, with thousands more added annually. However, a revolutionary technology — forensic genetic genealogy — could change this grim reality.
Many people first heard of this technique in 2018, when investigators used it to find Joseph DeAngelo, better known as the Golden State Killer. He eventually confessed to killing 13 people and raping about 50 women in California in the 1970s and 1980s.
Since then, the use of genetic genealogy in criminal investigations has steadily grown. This past year, it led police to arrest the man accused of raping and murdering Rachel Morin, a 37-year-old mother of five who was found murdered near a running trail in Maryland in 2023.
The initial inquiry into Morin’s death revealed that the killer’s DNA matched an unsolved home invasion and assault in Los Angeles — but even with this match, investigators couldn’t identify the suspect. This wasn’t a decades-old cold case; the Los Angeles incident had occurred in March 2023, just five months before Morin’s brutal murder. Whomever the DNA belonged to was actively committing crimes, posing a continuing risk to public safety.
For decades, law enforcement relied on the Combined DNA Index System known as CODIS. Launched by the FBI in the 1990s, CODIS compares DNA samples collected from crime scenes to a database of profiles in law enforcement’s possession.
DNA contains unique data points known as markers, which act like a genetic fingerprint. CODIS examines just 20 of these markers, and if no match is found in the database, the case often stalls.
As a result, violent crimes involving unknown suspects go unsolved — and perpetrators remain free to victimize more people.
The solution: forensic genetic genealogy.
Forensic genetic genealogy relies on detective work and DNA samples. Still, it looks for matches using hundreds of thousands of markers instead of 20. It also compares the new crime-scene samples to vast troves of consented consumer DNA profiles.
This process yields matches to individuals who share some DNA with the suspect. They may be distant relatives, but their genetic profiles allow investigators to build a family tree. With enough matches, police can find the source of the DNA found at the crime scene.
Police departments often can’t conduct forensic genetic genealogy. In Morin’s case, investigators turned the DNA evidence over to Othram, a company focused on solving contemporary and cold cases. Scientists there used genetic genealogy to develop new leads, culminating in the arrest of a 23-year-old named Victor Antonio Martinez-Hernandez, who was convicted on charges of rape and murder.
Martinez-Hernandez was practically invisible on paper — young and undocumented. However, with a complete genealogical profile, police were able to track him down and bring Rachel’s family justice.
Genetic genealogy has now been used to solve thousands of cold cases. Without it, DeAngelo, Martinez-Hernandez and countless other criminals might still be on the loose.
The fact that we have this technology now is a reason for hope. We can bring closure to families by solving past crimes and also stop new ones by identifying serial rapists and killers earlier in their trajectories.
Using forensic genetic genealogy infrastructure wouldn’t just bring more criminals to justice. Every case solved quickly means less time and money spent on dead-end leads or long-term investigations. Forensic genetic genealogy testing delivers results in a fraction of the time of traditional methods. Each test costs $8,000 to $10,000, while traditional murder investigations routinely stretch into the six or seven figures.
State and local law enforcement agencies need the flexibility and resources to solve each case as quickly and cost-effectively as possible. Currently, inadequate funding is preventing many investigators from fully using genetic genealogy tools.
The solution has to be more federal support. The Justice Department makes grants to help reduce DNA backlogs. More help is required. The next federal budget needs to focus on the game-changing application of genetic genealogy. Meanwhile, lawmakers need to re-evaluate how existing resources are being spent. In many cases, cutting-edge technologies can achieve the same or greater results for less money.
With a renewed focus on government efficiency, what better place to start?