Potomic River Rapist: Ongoing Search for murderer, serial rapist

Police in the DC area are still looking for a serial rapist and murderer they believe is responsible for nine attacks, including the Aug. 1, 1998 killing of Christine Mirzayan. Seven of these attacks are linked through DNA. The FBI launched a website this month to increase awareness of the attacks and attempt to find the perpetrator. Read more here.

MD: Female Victim: 1 year old cold case

DNA Status unknown; victim found in river.

Phylicia Barnes disapeared one year ago in Baltimore. Her body was found in the Susquehanna River near the Conowingo Dam in Harford County. The case is still unsolved.
http://www.mdsp.org/Media/PressReleases/tabid/359/ctl/Detail/mid/1088/xmid/20445/xmfid/4/Default.aspx

Georgia: DNA of relatives helps identify bones of murder victim

DNA from the mother and sister of Ima Jean Sanders has been used to identify the body of a person believed to be a victim of serial killer Paul John Knowles. Sanders disapeared in 1974.

Solving the 37-year-old disappearance of Sanders puts her among at least 18 people that Knowles killed. He was captured in a roadblock near McDonough on Interstate 75 north of Macon in November 1974 after kidnapping a Florida state trooper and another man near Perry, Fla., and later killing them in Pulaski County.Knowles was shot to death by a GBI agent on Dec. 18, 1974, while trying to escape from custody near Douglasville.

Read more here: http://www.macon.com/2011/12/25/1837839/modern-forensics-helped-solve.html#storylink=cpy

Gacy "victim" found alive

After no DNA matches among John Wayne Gacy's victims were found for the DNA of family members of Theodore Szal, it was discovered that Szal is alive, and was not a victim of Gacy in 1977 as earlier presumed.  


Read more here. 

Case update: Appellate court reverses Juan Rivera's Conviction

Update on case previously posted: http://denverfamilialdna.blogspot.com/2011/06/ill-defense-attorneys-push-for-familial.html


Illinois: An appellate court has reversed the conviction of Juan Rivera for the murder of Holly Staker. Rivera has been in prison for nearly 20 years.


DNA evidence found on the victim of a 1992 murder, Holly Staker, couldn't have come from Juan Rivera.  Rivera's attorney's were previously pushing for familial DNA testing in the case.
Read more here.

MT: Bag of Bones in Lewis and Clark County

A bag of human bones was found outside of Helena, Montana by a Forest Service employee in October.
DNA from the bones has been sent to the state crime lab but no match has been made yet.  The remains are believed to be from a male.

The bones were found on MacDonald Pass

Read about the initial find here.
Read about the current status here.

Betty Boop murder victim exhumed for DNA identification

A murder victim's body is being exhumed in the Bay Area in hopes of identifying her through DNA of her family members in the Missing Persons Database.

The 25-30 year old woman was found dead in 1989. She was dubbed the Betty Boop victim because of her T-shirt.

Read more here.

Pakistan gets first DNA lab

PESHAWAR, Dec 1, 2011 (IPS) - A much-needed DNA laboratory is to be set up at the Forensic Science Department of the Khyber Medical College in Peshawar, capital of the violence- battered Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region in Pakistan.

Pakistan hopes to identify suicide bombers through the DNA of their relatives.

Read more here.

FL: East Side Rapist defendant found Guilty

Joel Pappas, the man accused of the "East Side Rapist" crimes in Orange County, FL has been found guilty of found guilty of armed sexual battery, kidnapping, and burglary in a May 2009 attack. 

Read more: http://www.myfoxorlando.com/dpp/news/orange_news/111711-Man-on-trial-for-rape-found-guilty#ixzz1fs9WMGb3

Dallas-area police have DNA of rapist targeting sorority alumnae

Police announced this week that they have the DNA but no database match for the rapist who has been attacking middle aged sorority alumnae in Texas. The FBI is assisting with the investigation.

The assaults occurred on Nov. 11, 2010, and April 2 in Plano, on Sept. 15 in Coppell and on Oct. 14 in Shady Shores -- all Dallas suburbs.
All victims were members of Delta Sigma Theta, one of nine historically black Greek groups.
Read more here.

NM: David Parker Ray's torture victims still unidentified

The victims of David Parker Ray's torture are still unidentified.

Unidentified victim of Ray

Police are hoping that DNA profiles from the victims will be identified through the missing person's database.  They have just released a photo of a woman they believe was one of his victims.
Ray was convicted in 2001 of kidnapping and torturing a Colorado woman, and kidnapping and raping another woman who fled wearing a dog collar and chain.

Though Ray died in prison in 2002, Ray's girlfriend, at the time of his arrest, Cynthia Lea Hendy, told police that Ray disposed of bodies — both men and women in ravines and in Elephant Butte Reservoir.

Read more here.

UK to collect DNA from criminals not already in the database

Police in the UK could take DNA samples from over 13,000 criminals who are not already in the DNA database.  This would include serious violent offenders who were convicted prior to DNA collection laws or prior to DNA technology.

Read more here.

New York: DNA profile but no match for 1949 murder

11-year-old Joanne Ena Lynn of Hemlock disappeared on Sept. 19, 1949.  New York State police have a DNA profile from the suspected killer, but no match to anyone in the DNA database. They are currently taking DNA profiles of living individuals who may be family members of a possible suspect.

The DNA profile has already been used to exonerate suspects in the case.

Read more here.

NIJ Familial DNA Audio

Audio for NIJ: Familial DNA Searching: Issues and Answers.
Available here: http://nij.ncjrs.gov/multimedia/audio-nijconf2011-familial-searching.htm

Vermont: Alexander Stolte accused of killing 1 year old: DNA tells otherwise

Alexander Stolte is accused of murdering his girlfriend's one-year-old daughter.
DNA evidence found on the victim indicates that she was sexually assualted.  This evidence, however, is not Stolte's DNA.

The case is scheduled to go to trial next summer.

Read more here.

Kansas Serial Rapist

Authorities in Kansas are looking for a serial rapist they believe is responsible for 14 rapes in Lawrence and Manhattan since 2000. They have not released information to the press about whether DNA evidence has been found in the cases. Riley County officials and the Kansas Attorney General’s Office are working together on the cases.

The most recent attack was three years ago.

Read more here.

NYPD: Long Island Murders work of Serial Killer

NYPD now believes they can link the murders of 10 people found in the Long Island Region. Eight of these victims were women, one was a man, and one was a baby.

Detectives are using the aspects of the crime to link the bodies to one killer. DNA status in this case is unknown.

Read more here.

Gacy Victim Identified

William “Bill” George Bundy, 19, of Chicago, was identified through DNA as a victim of serial killer John Wayne Gacy.

The University of North Texas — Center for Human Identification made a positive identification between the DNA of Bill Bundy and his brother, Robert Bundy after Cook County Sheriff's collected DNA from people who thought they might be family of the unidentified victims.

Read more here.

After exoneration: Looking for the rapist in '85 case

DNA that exonerated a Topeka man, Joe Jones, of a 1985 rape in 1992 may be used to find the real rapist in this cold case.

Though the five-year statute of limitations for prosecution of rape cases in Kansas has long passed, Kansas law allows for prosecution of rape and murder cases for up to one year after DNA evidence has identified a suspect.

Read more here.

Wisconsin partial profile from unsolved 92 homicides

Nov 19, 2011 DNA database key in solving state crimes

"Waupaca County, Sheriff Brad Hardel expressed both confidence and frustration regarding the investigation into the 1992 homicides of Tanna Togstad, 23, and her 34-year-old boyfriend, Timothy Mumbrue. They were found stabbed to death in March 1992 in Togstad's Butternut Road farmhouse in the Town of Weyauwega.
Detectives have collected DNA evidence, but are still waiting for a match."

There is a partial profile in the case. Read the article here (pg 4).