Video: How Ancestral DNA Cracks Cold Cases Like the Bear Brook Murders

Cracking cold cases using genealogical DNA takes a combination of scientific analysis and detective work.

December 17, 2019

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Is ancestral, or genealogical DNA the answer to solving cold cases? In 1985, a barrel containing the bodies of a woman and young girl were discovered in Bear Brook State Park, New Hampshire. 15 years later, two more girls were discovered in another barrel just 300 feet away. Ancestral DNA, plus dogged detective work eventually helped solve the cold cases. Crime Obsession's Traci Stumpf speaks to Forensic DNA Consultant Mehul Anjaria about the emergence of ancestral DNA and how it helped crack the Bear Brook Murders and helped tracked down the Golden State Killer, among others.

Watch our Golden State Killer playlist on ID GO now.

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