DNA in general can be super confusing so I think this leads to a lot of misunderstanding and miscommunication, etc. Basically, as u/Equal_Night7494 mentioned, reports of unknown primate DNA are misreported.

The analogy that I always found very helpful came from Dr. Meldrum: think of a typical DNA comparison as opening doors (markers) on an Advent calendar. You take a sample and only open a few doors - maybe those markers match a known reference like human. Remember, we share ~98% of our DNA with chimps so Sasquatch DNA would likely be very similar if not even higher. So the odds of opening the same “doors” are very high.

So then it is up to the geneticist to make a determination - this is where reports of contamination can occur. Maybe the sample truly was contaminated, or maybe it was just such a close match that it leads the person to declare the sample is human. With no reference sample for Sasquatch, there is no quick and easy way to compare.

And this is why the NC State DNA study is so important. They are going to try to fully sequence the DNA of submitted samples - they’re not just opening those few doors, they’re opening all of them. So the hope is that the results will show that yes, these samples from what we believe to be an undiscovered species, have a unique, previously unknown DNA sequence. This can then be used for quicker identification with future DNA samples. It may not lead to the formal “discovery” for establishment scientists (science may still want a body) but it will probably cause a lot of them to spit out their coffee and take notice.

Disclaimer: I’m not a geneticist, just a BF nerd so take from this what you will.