ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Albuquerque police detectives are using genealogy to solve decades-old cold case crimes. In this latest example, APD and the FBI identified the victims from two cold case homicides using genealogy and DNA research.
Despite signs of foul play when their skeletal remains were discovered years ago, the women were only known as ‘Jane Doe’ until now. Kyle Hartsock, Commander of APD’s Criminal Investigation Division, joins Chris and Gabby to discuss how law enforcement is leveraging this technology, a grassroots DNA database, and federal grant funds to solve crimes that have been unsolvable until now.
Hartsock shares how genealogy is being used to identify sex crime offenders as well as murder victims in cold cases. The APD Commander explains how building family trees with genealogy is giving detectives a leg up in piecing together the puzzle in complex violent crime cases.
Commander Hartsock said the technology is especially helpful in cases where all other leads have been exhausted. “The old school thinking was just let the detective cook, right?” Hartsock explained. “Well sure, but sometimes they just keep making a bowl of cereal.”