The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) Cold Case Unit has identified a victim in a decades-old murder case, with the help of advancements in DNA technology. In July 1996, skeletal remains were discovered in a wooded area near Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina. Despite initial investigative efforts, the case went cold, and the woman’s identity remained unknown for years.
In 2024, advancements in forensic genetic genealogy provided a new opportunity for the case. Othram Labs, with support from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Foundation, successfully extracted a viable DNA profile from additional bones provided by the Mecklenburg County Medical Examiner’s Office. The initial attempt a year earlier had been unsuccessful due to the condition of the remains. With the genetic profile, CMPD detectives uploaded the data to GEDmatch and Family Tree DNA, two consumer databases that assist law enforcement investigations.
Collaboration with the Investigative Genetic Genealogy Center at Ramapo College led to the identification of Betty Benton, as reported in CMPD’s official news release. Following this lead, CMPD detectives contacted Benton’s family, and through a relative’s DNA, it was confirmed that the remains belonged to Benton. She had been missing since 1992, with her last known location in North Carolina in early 1991, and her disappearance reported a year later…