Ancestry sites bring cold cases back to life

THANKS to a cigarette butt discarded 26 years ago, 55year old Ralph Bortree appeared in an Ohio court last week, accused of the 1993 attempted murder of a woman.

It was the latest use genetic genealogy, a controversial crime-fighting technique which involves comparing crime scene samples to DNA submitted voluntarily to ancestry websites.

Supporters believe the practice, which was instrumental in the arrest of the alleged Golden State Killer, could help solve an estimated 100,000 cold cases in the US.

But opponents argue it poses a threat to the privacy of millions of Americans.

Earlier this summer, William Earl Talbott II became the first man to be convicted by a jury as a result of genetic genealogy when he was found guilty of the November 1987 murder of a Canadian couple in Washington State. The work was carried out by Parabon NanoLabs, a Virginia-based company that has helped solve 68 cases since May 2018 and is currently helping in the investigation of nearly 400 more.

In the Talbott case crime scene, Parabon used a DNA sample found on a blanket wrapped around one of the bodies to produce a composite image of the suspect aged 25, 45 and 65, using a technique known as phenotyping.

The DNA was also submitted to the GEDmatch DNA database, an ancestry website with just over a million entries. Two matches resulted: one was Talbott’s second cousin; the other was a half first cousin.

A newspaper obituary joined the dots, identifying a couple who had four children, including one son, William Talbott, who was unknown to the police.

The final piece of the jigsaw was getting Talbott’s DNA, which police obtained by picking up a paper cup he dropped from his truck.