The April 2018 arrest of Joseph DeAngelo, the Golden State Killer, is often considered the birth of forensic genetic genealogy (FGG). Since then, the method has taken off, with investigators in the U.S. and across the globe repeatedly turning to FGG for their coldest of cases.
The research-intensive method has been used to find the perpetrator in some of the most famous murder cases, as well as identify Does who have gone without their names for far too long—such as Joseph Augustus Zarelli, previously known as the Boy in the Box and America’s Unknown Child.
And while cases like Zarelli’s receive mass media attention, investigators are using FGG to solve rape and murders cases in small judications in the middle of the country, too. Exactly how many cases, you ask? According to Tracey Leigh Dowdeswell, 545 cases as of Dec. 31, 2022.
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The Forensic Genetic Genealogy Project can be found on Mendeley Data. The published product includes profiles on all 545 solves cases using FGG, as well as a user manual, which explains how the data was collected and coded. Dowdeswell also included an annotated bibliography of the sources used to collect the data.
