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This article doesn’t elaborate and I’m not convinced their source(s) are accurate. There is a competing “source” from another news organization that is claiming
by ianhawes 4y ago
This article doesn’t elaborate and I’m not convinced their source(s) are accurate. There is a competing “source” from another news organization that is claiming they caught this guy when his phone pinged a “smart device” (Alexa or similar) and its MAC address was logged.
However from other cases where genealogy databases are used, typically what happens is once a DNA profile is developed, it can be compared with other entries in the public databases. If there are family members that exist in the database, you can develop a family tree from the known person and attempt to identify the target from public records. Typically the more distant the relative is from the target, the harder it is to come up with a family tree.
AFAIK law enforcement uses publicly available databases and not the private Ancestry or 23andMe DBs, which are thought to be much larger.
- enkid 4y agoThese aren't contradictory. You could have DNA id a subject and his phone provide a location, or DNA and the smart phone both point to the same person.
- giantg2 4y agoI agree they could both be used. For some reason I find it much more likely they caught him because his phone tried to connect to a device. But maybe I am giving too much credit to the tech surveillance dragnet.
- roody15 4y agoLaw Enforcement absolutely uses data from 23 and me and Ancestry “ In certain circumstances, however, 23andMe may be required by law to comply with a valid court order, subpoena, or search warrant for genetic or personal information.” https://www.23andme.com/law-enforcement-guide/ https://www.23andme.com/law-enforcement-guide/
- apawloski 4y agoWhile it might be true that 23andMe complies with court orders in specific cases, there is likely a distinction between individual subpoenas and carte blanche catalog access for law enforcement. I say this because a famous cold case in Philadelphia was recently solved with genetic geneaology and the researcher notes explicitly that law enforcement uses GEDMatch and not Ancestry or 23andMe for these cases [0] [0] https://www.inquirer.com/news/philadelphia/joseph-zarelli-boy-in-the-box-dna-genealogy-cold-case-20221216.html https://www.inquirer.com/news/philadelphia/joseph-zarelli-bo...
- astrange 4y agoThe GSK case (California’s worst serial killer) was also solved through GEDMatch, and only public queries ie you can remove your profile from it if you care. To the extent that helps anything.
- bryan0 4y ago> There is a competing “source” from another news organization that is claiming they caught this guy when his phone pinged a “smart device” (Alexa or similar) and its MAC address was logged. Link? I haven’t seen this story yet, but I am seeing the genealogy story reported in several places.
- googlryas 4y agoIt seems unlikely he would have connected to their in-home wifi before/during/after murdering them.
- abracadaniel 4y agoA home wifi that offers guest access through the provider like Comcast or ATT could cause that. I had my iPhone automatically connect to an ATT public access point against my wishes the other day. Beyond that, something like an airtag could have logged a connection, or some bluetooth device that happened to log all IDs it saw.