'Genealogical witnesses' helped crack cold case of Cumberland baby's murder
Cumberland County authorities credited DNA evidence for Thursday's arrest of a Burke County woman in the unsolved death of a newborn in 1999.
Posted — UpdatedThe infant, whom investigators called "Baby Michael," was found inside a plastic bag on Canady Pond Road with the umbilical cord still attached and the mother's placenta.
Bode Technology, a Virginia firm that specializes in forensic genealogy services, took DNA from that evidence to develop a family tree for "Baby Michael," which eventually led investigators to charging 54-year-old Deborah Riddle O’Conner with murder.
Bode Vice President Andrew Singer said people who get their DNA tested to learn more about their heritage or potential health issues can also volunteer to join larger databases and become "genealogical witnesses."
"[Testing firms] 23andMe and Ancestry.com are not databases that are accessed by law enforcement for this type of service," Singer said. "This type of work is done with DNA profiles that individuals have voluntarily uploaded into databases and opted to allow law enforcement to be able to search for this purpose."
Bode ran the DNA provided by the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office through these databases seeking a match, which Singer said is often far from exact.
"Typically, a good range is about a third cousin or closer," he said. "In those cases, the individual who they sample [you] may be linked to, you may not even know who they are."
Bode is also working with North Carolina law enforcement agencies to test the backlog of sexual assault evidence kits in the state.
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