Obviously this got quite a bit of media coverage this month as this is now a 30 year old cold case.
What's most perplexing is why more progress hasn't been made with the DNA sample they got a hit on a couple of years ago in an anonymous male only DNA database in Florida. The FBI refuses to release the name of the person in that database. However, forget the database they got a hit on. Haven't they also tried other genealogy databases like what was done with the Golden State Killer?
I saw this quote in the Statesman by one of the people involved with the GSK's case, "However, "Y-STR DNA testing, or genetic genealogy, is much less informative," said CeCe Moore, a genetic genealogist who has assisted criminal investigators. "It's not meaningless, but there's a much lower chance that it's going to help lead to an identification" than a more typical forensic DNA sample." To me, that is a massive talking point that needs some further expanding upon.
Can someone explain in layman's terms the Y-STR DNA and why it's not useful in this case? I know it probably casts a wide net, but it seems to me that unless the animal that did this is in a modern day Genghis Khan's lineage that it would be fairly easy to find. Even if they got a hit in another database that narrowed down the male lineage to 1,000 people, it seems that the majority of the relatives could easily be eliminated:
It seems that just adding a few basic filters to even a large pool would dramatically whittled down the suspect pool. I assume the authorities would've been doing the type of investigating I described above and we would've at least heard something by now. The FBI refusing to reveal the name of the database hit was almost 2 years ago from early 2020. Maybe we will hear something soon.
As a parent, I just can't imagine the hell the families of those 4 girls have been through the last 3 decades not to mention the hell the victims themselves went through.
What's most perplexing is why more progress hasn't been made with the DNA sample they got a hit on a couple of years ago in an anonymous male only DNA database in Florida. The FBI refuses to release the name of the person in that database. However, forget the database they got a hit on. Haven't they also tried other genealogy databases like what was done with the Golden State Killer?
I saw this quote in the Statesman by one of the people involved with the GSK's case, "However, "Y-STR DNA testing, or genetic genealogy, is much less informative," said CeCe Moore, a genetic genealogist who has assisted criminal investigators. "It's not meaningless, but there's a much lower chance that it's going to help lead to an identification" than a more typical forensic DNA sample." To me, that is a massive talking point that needs some further expanding upon.
Can someone explain in layman's terms the Y-STR DNA and why it's not useful in this case? I know it probably casts a wide net, but it seems to me that unless the animal that did this is in a modern day Genghis Khan's lineage that it would be fairly easy to find. Even if they got a hit in another database that narrowed down the male lineage to 1,000 people, it seems that the majority of the relatives could easily be eliminated:
- Anyone under about 40 years old. I doubt a 10 year old committed this.
- Anyone deceased before the date of the crime
- Anyone in prison on the date of the crime (can't be committing the crime while locked up somewhere else)
- Of the remaining folks, did any live in Austin, Texas in 1991? That might at least be a good starting point.
It seems that just adding a few basic filters to even a large pool would dramatically whittled down the suspect pool. I assume the authorities would've been doing the type of investigating I described above and we would've at least heard something by now. The FBI refusing to reveal the name of the database hit was almost 2 years ago from early 2020. Maybe we will hear something soon.
As a parent, I just can't imagine the hell the families of those 4 girls have been through the last 3 decades not to mention the hell the victims themselves went through.
