Genealogical sites have helped solve major crimes
Authorities trying to solve Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance say they could mine DNA genealogy databases, the same step police took to unravel a decades-old murder spree in California and the fatal beatings of four college students in Idaho.
The strategy could be fruitful: If unidentified DNA evidence could be linked to someone — even a distant relative — in a common genealogy database, it would give investigators more information and possibly lead to a suspect in the Guthrie kidnapping in Arizona.
“It’s a fantastic tool,” said Ruth Ballard, a California geneticist who specializes in DNA and has testified in hundreds of trials. “If it’s a good quality sample and they’re able to get a profile, they might come up with an answer pretty quickly.”
The Pima County, Arizona, Sheriff’s Department said DNA collected so far in the investigation has revealed no matches in a national criminal justice database known as CODIS, which contains DNA profiles of convicted felons and, in some states, people arrested for certain crimes.
“Investigators are currently exploring other genetic genealogy options to search for DNA evidence to verify matches. CODIS is one option among many databases available,” the Sheriff’s Department said Tuesday.
The department said Wednesday that biological evidence from Guthrie’s Tucson-area home was being examined and DNA profiles were in a lab for analysis.
Guthrie, the mother of NBC “Today” co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, has been missing from her home since Feb. 1. The FBI said gloves found about 2 miles away appeared to match those worn by a masked suspect who was recorded on a porch camera.
Genealogy sites Ancestry, 23andMe and MyHeritage say they may be asked to comply with court orders seeking information. Another genealogy site, GEDmatch, said its policy is to ask users if they want to allow police to view their data. The Associated Press emailed the companies Wednesday evening, asking if they had a role in the Guthrie investigation.
GEDmatch was credited with helping solve the case of the so-called Golden State Killer. Police used DNA from crime scenes to track down a distant relative and build a family tree that led to Joseph DeAngelo Jr. In 2020, he pleaded guilty to 13 murders and dozens of rapes in California in the 1970s and 1980s.
In Idaho, DNA from a knife sheath helped identify Bryan Kohberger in the 2022 killings of four University of Idaho students. Investigators used pedigree sites to build a family tree and collected trash from Kohberger’s parents’ home in Pennsylvania to make a connection. Kohberger pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison.
Ballard said the source and quality of DNA evidence held by police can be factors when trying to find matches on genealogy sites.
“This requires a much better sample than CODIS research,” she said.
And there may be other obstacles.
“There are a lot of unknowns when looking at these databases,” Ballard said. “The databases are not equal in terms of ethnic distribution. It is comparatively easier to find a Caucasian because more people have uploaded their data and there are more family trees to mine.”
