The Brief
- Dallas police are using modern DNA databases and genetic genealogy to solve decades-old cold cases.
- Detectives recently used these technologies to identify suspects in two separate murders from the 1980s.
- Despite recent breakthroughs, thousands of unsolved murder cases still remain in underground storage.
DALLAS – Dallas has thousands of unsolved murder cases, but with modern DNA technology, detectives at the Dallas Police Department are solving decades-long cold cases.
Finding a suspect
What we know:
Detective Andrea Isom and the Dallas Police Department’s Cold Case Unit are working to track down suspects using DNA technology that did not exist when the crimes occurred.
This includes a DNA database containing DNA taken from people who have been arrested, as well as investigative genetic genealogy, using DNA left at a crime scene decades ago to map biological relationships and find a suspect.…