leilarose68
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Not sure if someone else already posted this but apparently (I didn't discover this myself!) Barbara Rae-Venter has confirmed that in November she identified the adult Bear Brook Jane Doe through genetic genealogy. This article was published January 22, 2019.
We Are Data - The Finders: Cracking Cold Cases with Genealogy, Forensics, and DNA - Part Two of A Two-Part Series
"With Rasmussen’s and his relationship identities solved, three mysteries remained, and the biggest challenge was retrieving usable DNA from the remaining Bear Brook victims. “We did two or three extractions from bone, and a liver extract, and what little we could get was very low quality. In the first sequencing, the amount of human DNA was only 2 percent — the rest was bacterial. Theoretically, you could amplify that, but only at extraordinary expense.”
"Thirty-three years after the crime, breaks in the case are happening fast. On Nov. 13, 2018, Dr. Rae-Venter uploaded the adult victim’s DNA profile to GEDmatch. “I got the results at 6 a.m. the next morning and identified her by 8 through a second-cousin match. All because of atDNA from rootless hair."
“Extracting atDNA from the hair shaft was not possible before,” she emphasized, adding that final identification must still be confirmed by DNA testing of a family member. “The implications of this technology for solving cold cases worldwide are just huge.”
We Are Data - The Finders: Cracking Cold Cases with Genealogy, Forensics, and DNA - Part Two of A Two-Part Series
"With Rasmussen’s and his relationship identities solved, three mysteries remained, and the biggest challenge was retrieving usable DNA from the remaining Bear Brook victims. “We did two or three extractions from bone, and a liver extract, and what little we could get was very low quality. In the first sequencing, the amount of human DNA was only 2 percent — the rest was bacterial. Theoretically, you could amplify that, but only at extraordinary expense.”
"Thirty-three years after the crime, breaks in the case are happening fast. On Nov. 13, 2018, Dr. Rae-Venter uploaded the adult victim’s DNA profile to GEDmatch. “I got the results at 6 a.m. the next morning and identified her by 8 through a second-cousin match. All because of atDNA from rootless hair."
“Extracting atDNA from the hair shaft was not possible before,” she emphasized, adding that final identification must still be confirmed by DNA testing of a family member. “The implications of this technology for solving cold cases worldwide are just huge.”
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