DNA Doe Project

And we just kept running into brick wall after brick wall.

When DNA became the big thing, a group actually reached out to me Called the DNA Doe Project.

That's what they did.

They did the genetic genealogy where they would take that DNA, upload it into GEDmatch, which is one of your it's like your Ancestry.com, your 23andMe's.

I got to take credit for it.

We got to take credit for it.

But in reality, the DNA Doe Project are the ones that, quote unquote, solve it.

I kept the case alive.

Right.

2019, Idaho State University researchers and the old Clark County Sheriff's Office turned to the DNA Doe Project.

The DNA Doe Project is a nonprofit organization that helps identify unknown human remains.

The approach is pretty awesome because it doesn't necessarily work the way people imagine DNA testing works.

You don't always have to take DNA from an unidentified person, put it into a computer and instantly get a name.

Sometimes the closest matches are distant relatives.

And the real work begins.

So the DNA Doe Project worked with a lab called Othram.

Investigative genetic genealogy, a technique that combines advanced DNA analysis with traditional genealogy research to solve cold cases, is still relatively new, but police believe it's worth a shot.

So they reach out to Dr. Colleen Fitzpatrick, the co-founder of the DNA Doe Project, a nonprofit dedicated to solving cold cases through forensic genealogy.

Dr. Fitzpatrick agrees to take on the case, and she gets to work.

Using the DNA profile extracted from the crime scene evidence, Dr. Fitzpatrick builds out a family tree dating back to the 1600s and a man named Robert Fuller.

So with the adoptee's permission, Missy got in touch with the people who sent the message.

They were running a new small nonprofit called the DNA Doe Project.

Having seen what Missy could do for the living, they had a question.

Might she be interested in doing the same for the dead? Missy didn't have to think about it for long.

And a lot of times we end up calling that kind of like a pretzel.

You know, it's a DNA pretzel.

The DNA Doe Project uses investigative genetic genealogy, also known as IgG.

Today, many people are familiar with the forensic technique.

Uh-huh.

So six years later, enter, I did not know we'd be hanging out with the DNA Doe Project today-

I know

...

Did I...

I think I did tell you this.

When I went to Advocacy Con, I met some ladies from the DNA Doe Project.

And?

"What do you mean, something that stayed with me? I don't think about the crime after the moment when it's happened." They really struggled to look back and think about something.

DNA Doe Project says that CrimeCon has helped generate new leads on cold cases.

Does that change how you weigh the event's value?

I guess.

Which brings us to that third child.

In January 2014, the New Hampshire State Police Cold Case Unit partnered with channel favorite, the DNA Doe Project, who were able to produce a new DNA profile for this girl.

The profile showed that she was solely of European descent, and also gave new and updated lists of DNA matches, which researchers then painstakingly used to build her family tree.

In cases like this, we're rarely talking about close DNA connections.