DNA Coverage

All assets associated with the tag: DNA

Man calls DNA link to 1990 rape 'ridiculous'

Deandre Marcel Smith was charged with first-degree rape, first-degree sexual offense and kidnapping for a crime that took place when he was 20 years old.

Durham solving decades-old cold cases with new DNA testing

A grant funds testing for sex assault kits long kept on file, leading to new arrests in old cases.

Grant allows Durham Police to solve decades-old cold cases

The Durham Police Department has formed a cold case unit funded by a 3-year grant from the National Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) that allows them to work through the backlog of untested evidence.

Monica Casey, WRAL Durham reporter

Philanthropist helps law enforcement test DNA in cold cases

DNA testing is very expensive and small law enforcement agencies don't have the resources for this. But in recent years laboratories that test DNA in cold cases are turning to crowdfunding with great success to get the cost covered.

Money from the crowd pays for DNA tests on cold case remains

There's an entire online community dedicated to helping solve these cases.

Crowdfunding supports cold case DNA analysis

Episode 19 of the What Remains podcast is about Carla Davis and her generous gifts of time and money to solving cold cases. It's a cause that is personal to her. In the episode she talks about the murder case that originally sparked her interest in funding DNA analysis.

Amanda Lamb, WRAL reporter

Crowdfunding supports cold case DNA analysis

'What Remains' podcast episode 18: 'Finding Brittanee'

When a 17-year-old girl from New York goes missing in Myrtle Beach during spring break, at first it appears to be no big deal. Very soon, the entire country is invested in the search for Brittanee Drexel.

The disappearance of Brittanee Drexel

Amanda Lamb, WRAL reporter

Two cold cases solved in Chatham County after 40 years

DNA technology was able to solve cases were 43 and 46 years old, the oldest cases to be solved with forensic genealogy in North Carolina to date.

New tech unravels a missing persons mystery after more than 40 years

Most people give up trying unravel a mystery after a short period of time. Unraveling mysteries and figuring out complicated puzzles are both mentally and emotionally exhausting. But sometimes, taking another look at a cold case with fresh eyes can give you the clarity you need to solve it.

Amanda Lamb, WRAL reporter

New tech unravels a missing persons mystery after more than 40 years

Best friends discover they're sisters after genetic testing

You probably care a lot about your best friend, so imagine how you'd feel if you found out your friend was your sibling! That is exactly what happened to a woman in Connecticut.

Isotope analysis: A roadmap through someone's past

In episode 16 of the What Remains podcast, we explore the growing field of isotope analysis and how it may just be better than a GPS at telling scientists where someone has been in the world.

Amanda Lamb, WRAL reporter

Isotope analysis: A roadmap through someone's past

Forensic genealogy helps to solve the mystery of The Somerton Man

In this episode of the What Remains podcast we tell you how a professor and a genealogist teamed up to solve one of the oldest mysteries in the world.

Amanda Lamb, WRAL reporter

Forensic genealogy helps to solve the mystery of The Somerton Man

Who was 'Little Miss Nobody?'

Episode 14 of the What Remains podcast reexamines the case of "Little Miss Nobody," and the unknown remains that would take 62 years to identify.

Amanda Lamb, WRAL reporter

80 years later, Cary family gets closure for loved one killed at Pearl Harbor

A Cary family has been mourning a loved one they have never met. They have held hope that one day the remains of 21-year-old Herbert Johnson, who was killed in the attack on Pearl Harbor, would surface.

Chelsea Donovan, WRAL reporter

80 years later, Cary family gets closure for loved one killed at Pearl Harbor

Alice's father was there all along: States can help in the heartbreaking search for missing persons

In Episode 13 of the What Remains podcast, we take you on a journey with two heartbroken families who turn their grief into action along with the help of a young state lawmaker who made good on her campaign promise to help them.

Amanda Lamb, WRAL reporter

Alice's father was there all along: States can help in the heartbreaking search for missing persons

The challenge of identifying people who lived in the shadows

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department Lt. Brian Crum calls the mission to identify all unidentified remains "a solemn responsibility."

Amanda Lamb, WRAL reporter

The challenge of identifying people who lived in the shadows

DNA science brings family closure

A sister desperate for answers, an investigator who wasn't afraid to look for them, and improved DNA science has finally made answers attainable in one of the oldest cold cases solved to date in North Carolina.

DNA profiling and "the CSI effect"

While scientists don't have a magic wand they can wave over a crime scene, they now have something that's pretty close to being magic in DNA profiling.

Amanda Lamb, WRAL reporter

Her death remained a mystery for 46 years. Now, DNA evidence from a coffee cup at the airport led to an arrest

For 46 years, the answer to who killed Lindy Sue Biechler remained a mystery. But with the help of DNA lifted from a coffee cup earlier this year, investigators were able to charge a Pennsylvania man with the stabbing of the 19-year-old woman in 1975.

Alisha Ebrahimji, CNN