PHOENIX — In Episode 5 of Arizona's Coldest Cases, we take a look at the emerging technique of investigative genetic genealogy. Law enforcement agencies across the country have been using this powerful tool to solve hundreds of criminal cases - homicides and sexual assaults - including here in Arizona. Now, you can look into those cases yourself with the help of a new database.
According to the Department of Justice, investigative or forensic genetic genealogy is a technique that combines technological advancements in DNA analysis and searching with traditional genealogy research. Dr. Tracey Leigh Dowdeswell is an academic and criminologist who authored the Forensic Genetic Genealogy Project. She collected data and created an online database of 621 cases with 293 perpetrators where genetic genealogy was used.
"I'd seen some people attempting to compile a list of cases cleared, and I had an informal one that I was keeping myself," said Dr. Dowdeswell. "Around the fall of 2020, I decided that the information would be most useful to researchers and policy makers if I collected the data systematically and coded it and put it into a database. So, I spent about six months looking through all the cases that have been cleared to date. About by the end of 2020, I created my first database going back from the first case. It was the Brian Miller case, solved in Phoenix in 2015 by Colleen Fitzpatrick."
Brian Patrick Miller, also known as the canal killer, was sentenced to death in June of this year. This was after he was found guilty of killing two young women: 21-year-old Angela Brosso in November of 1992 and 17-year-old Melanie Bernas just 10 months later. Both were attacked while riding their bikes along the Arizona canal in North Phoenix. DNA collected from both scenes, later showed the cases were a match when it came to Miller. Since then, hundreds more cases have been solved through investigative genetic genealogy.
"The most recent update I put out was at the end of August 2023 and I collect data continuously. I'll be publishing a new data set in January that will go up to the end of 2023. If people want to know more about the cases, or the sources that are used in compiling my data, they can look through the case digests," said Dr. Dowdeswell.
Mark McDermott is the founder of Genealogy Explained, an education site to help people learn about their family trees. He has teamed up with Dr. Dowdeswell to create a more user-friendly database that can be accessible by the public.
"I knew that level of detail might be overwhelming for some people who are not really accustomed to working with that type of complex data set," McDermott said. "So, I kind of saw an opportunity to make this data even more accessible to a wider audience. By putting that on a website, in a database where you can sort, filter, search and find exactly what you're looking for."
Watch the full new episode on the ABC15 app on your streaming devices beginning Friday at 8:30 p.m. and throughout the weekend.
Watch previous episodes of Arizona's Coldest Cases in the player below:
