A KILLER SITE
Open-source web page caught California fiend
INVESTIGATORS reportedly cracked the Golden State Killer case using a wonky, word-ofmouth genetic genealogy website based in Florida — and they didn’t even have to ask permission first.
The site, called GEDmatch.com, allows users to upload DNA profiles acquired elsewhere to track down long-lost relatives or just expand the branches on their family trees.
Run by volunteers including Curtis Rogers of Palm Beach County, the popular, opensource website does not currently require a court-order for law enforcement to access it.
In a statement first obtained by the Mercury News on Friday, Rogers confirmed his site was used to track down sadistic serial killer Joseph DeAngelo, who was arrested Tuesday in the Golden State Killer case and made his first court appearance Friday.
DeAngelo (photo), 72, did not enter a plea as he sat in a wheelchair and agreed to return to court May 14.
“We understand that the GEDmatch database was used to help identify the Golden State Killer,” Rogers said. “Although we were not approached by law enforcement or anyone else about this case or about the DNA, it has always been GEDmatch’s policy to inform users that the database could be used for other uses, as set forth in the Site Policy.”
Rogers said that while his database is intended for hardcore genealogical researchers like himself, all users must consider the possible downside of sharing their information so publicly.
“It is important that GEDmatch participants understand the possible uses of their DNA, including identification of relatives that have committed crimes or were victims of crimes,” he told the Mercury News.
Paul Holes, a now-retired lead investigator on the Golden State Killer case, was the first to identify GEDmatch as the DNA website that helped investigators piece together the killer’s ancestry and ultimately connect the dots to DeAngelo.
Holes said the day before his recent retirement from the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s crime lab, he actually drove out to DeAngelo’s house and considered knocking on his door to ask for a voluntary DNA sample.
He said he was still researching the 72-year-old suspect at the time and decided to wait to make contact until investigators learned more.
Sacramento County prosecutors confirmed Thursday that it was a familial DNA match from a genealogical website paired with dogged forensic work that led them to DeAngelo’s doorstep.
Two of the most popular commercial sites, Ancestry.com and 23andMe.com, said Thursday that they weren’t involved in the case.
Privacy advocates said the high-profile case could lead to new legislation governing the ways law enforcement is allowed to troll public DNA profiles for criminal cases.