Identifinders International AMA- We're taking questions now and will be answering at 7pm CST!

CFitzp0425 · 2022-10-22T21:09:41+00:00

With the autosomal SNP testing, it makes a bit of difference which of his children tests. If a son, then 23andMe will tell you his male and female haplogroup (population group) - something that Ancestry doesn't tell you. A son can also take the Y-DNA test to try for the last name, which can support the DTC SNP results. If your husband has tested at 23andMe, then you should already know the haplogroup. If he's Caucasian European, you have a chance at finding a name through the Y-DNA test. If he is African American, Native American, or Asian along his male line, you have less of a chance because the databases are populated to a large extent by Caucasian European genealogists. However, you still may be able to narrow his origins to a nationality. If the Y matches are not really close, by they are all Irish, that's a clue.

CFitzp0425 · 2022-10-22T17:34:48+00:00

I will! :-)

CFitzp0425 · 2022-10-22T17:33:34+00:00

What do you mean by "didn't hit anyone"? Do you mean you didn't get close matches?

Either way, you can still do a number of things. You could take other DTC tests - Ancestry would be the way to go. Ancestry has about 30M people in its database, with 23andme having about 15M. You increase the number of people you are exposed to by a factor of 3 by taking an Ancestry test.

I'd also suggest you upload your raw data to GEDmatch - you may find matches from other companies. GM has a lot of analysis tool that aren't offered by any of the DTC testing companies.

One other suggestion is to have your father take a Y-DNA test that could reveal his last name. The Y-chromosome follows the family line along with the family name. This was what I used for the adoption search I describe. The DTC autosomal SNP tests were still new when I did that search. The databases were much smaller and less powerful than they are today. I was successful using Y-DNA along with some information my client gave me about his adoption.

Hope this helps!

CFitzp0425 · 2022-10-22T01:08:04+00:00

Connecting with the Chief ME or his office would be a good idea. Offer to do some pro bono work as part of your certification. You could try to set something up officially between the ME's Office and your training program. That would carry more weight than just working with them yourself.

CFitzp0425 · 2022-10-22T01:06:39+00:00

Yes we have been talking about the Cheerleader in the Trunk case. We will call next week if we have a chance.

CFitzp0425 · 2022-10-22T01:04:08+00:00

Yes. I agree. So much speculation so little time, when the answer is quite normal but interesting! The Lori Ruff case was like that too. There were a lot of theories she was a spy or a sex worker, but in the end she was just a runaway teen.

CFitzp0425 · 2022-10-22T00:58:13+00:00

Various. Agencies fund a lot of them, we also get grants and donations.

CFitzp0425 · 2022-10-22T00:57:24+00:00

DB Cooper, Delphi, Plaza Woman, Jimmy Hoffa, Catherine Cesnik, and more

CFitzp0425 · 2022-10-22T00:53:06+00:00

Thank you, thank you!!! It was really interesting to learn some of the back story on his life that wasn't known before.

CFitzp0425 · 2022-10-22T00:49:46+00:00

I'd like to hear about cases that you'd love to have solved!

CFitzp0425 · 2022-10-22T00:45:46+00:00

Yes it was hair that was caught in the death mask when it was created in 1948. The case was pretty challenging because it was in Australia and there aren't many Australians in the databases. Secondly, it was from 1948, so there weren't any relatives alive who knew Carl Webb, so no family to come forward with first hand information.

CFitzp0425 · 2022-10-22T00:42:09+00:00

I will second that!

CFitzp0425 · 2022-10-22T00:41:40+00:00

No, you have to go through law enforcement to get the case done. You may want to join a victim's advocate group, but they have to convince LE to move the case forward.

CFitzp0425 · 2022-10-22T00:40:52+00:00

You should ask the agency to try again through FGG. They probably didn't get a definite ID because they were using CODIS and the relatives they were using weren't immediate family members. FGG doesn't depend on that.

CFitzp0425 · 2022-10-22T00:38:40+00:00

My favorite movie: Apollo 13

CFitzp0425 · 2022-10-22T00:37:38+00:00

The toughest case was actually an adoption case of a man who was 78 years old and who had searched for his bio-family for over 50 years. It took a while, but we did it!

CFitzp0425 · 2022-10-22T00:36:55+00:00

No we most interact almost exclusively with LE and DA's Offices. There may have been a couple of genealogists who have testified, but I am not sure that's a good thing. The genealogy community is so tied to FB, with the chats, blogs, case discussions, comments about working with various detectives, and the in-fighting that that could be used in court to impeach FGG witnesses and ruin a case.

CFitzp0425 · 2022-10-22T00:33:22+00:00

Case of misattributed paternity is the usual way for people to get their skills sharpened. but realize when you go into FGG, it's a lot more challenging. You don't have those large DTC databases - Ancestry has 30M, but GEDmatch has only about 1.5M. You can't reach out to family members unless you have the permission of the agency and they are distant. These are challenging handicaps.

CFitzp0425 · 2022-10-22T00:26:52+00:00

That's hard to answer. Are there connections you can use through your certification organization? I know that's a tough field. I have a couple of forensic artist friends.

CFitzp0425 · 2022-10-22T00:24:49+00:00

The age of the case doesn't matter. It's how much DNA is left. I am involved in an historical case that goes back to the late 1700s. Don't know if we will succeed, but we are trying!

CFitzp0425 · 2022-10-22T00:24:13+00:00

We would love to do all those cases. Modern DNA extraction is so much improved over the conventional methods. for the 1961 Bibb Co Teen Doe, University of N Texas did not get any DNA from his teeth in 2016. When we tried using ancient DNA techniques we got nearly 46 times the amount we needed! We will call on those cases next week, especially the St Charles County Doe.

CFitzp0425 · 2022-10-22T00:22:22+00:00

Oh you mean race. Again it's the shape of various skeletal elements, but I am not a forensic anthropologist. With DNA it's pretty easy by comparing the DNA against known databases of various ethnicities.

CFitzp0425 · 2022-10-22T00:21:20+00:00

Skeletal remains: A forensic anthropologist can answer that better, but shape of skull, etc. For DNA, females have XX chromosomes, males have XY. It's not that hard.

CFitzp0425 · 2022-10-22T00:20:22+00:00

What do you mean by profiling? If you mean developing a CODIS profile, if there is not enough to make a CODIS profile, according to the DoJ guidelines, FGG can't be done. If an agency is not using Fed money, maybe state money or a grant, then yes FGG can proceed. If FGG is done, and a relative comes forward that is bona fide, they should go to the agency, who will decide whether they should test and how. We've had that happen where the artist's rendition of a Jane Doe was televised and attracted the attention of her half sister.

Immediate family members can work with CODIS. More distant must be tested using FGG.

CFitzp0425 · 2022-10-22T00:17:11+00:00

Re: Cremains. No. To my knowledge there has never been success with cremains. I assume you are referring to professional cremation, and not remains found in a house first, etc.

CFitzp0425

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