Search Results for: DNA

In 1989, 19-year-old Lori Ann Auker of Northumberland County, Pennsylvania disappeared. Though her car was found parked close to the pet shop where she worked, Lori had not shown up for work. Nearly three weeks after she disappeared, the body of a young woman was found by another woman walking nearby whose suspicions were aroused by a strong, rancid odour.

The case of murderer Joseph Kappen is renowned as being one of the first uses of familial DNA analysis in criminal identification. Familial DNA searching involves the use of DNA profiles of relatives, often from DNA databases or samples volunteered by individuals, to create new investigative leads to aid in the identification of the offender. In 1973, three teenage girls

In March 1990 in Virginia, the body of a young female was discovered in her home. The victim, who had been sexually assaulted and stabbed to death, was 22-year-old Dawn Bruce. Unfortunately the incident scene did not turn up as much evidence as investigators would have liked, with the only piece of evidence that seemed useful being a blood-stained pillow case

One of the first cases that utilised Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and microsatellites in DNA profiling is that of Josef Mengele. Josef Mengele, informally known as the Angel of Death, achieved notoriety as an SS officer and physician at Auschwitz, a Nazi concentration camp in Poland, where he reportedly subjected about 400,000 victims to grotesque medical experiments and death in

On 19 September 1991, a German couple were hiking along the Austrian-Italian border when they stumbled across a shrivelled corpse. The cadaver appeared to be in fairly good condition, or at least it was not skeletonised, with some soft tissue still remaining. The body was collected and analysed. The corpse was of a man of a few inches over five

Colin Pitchfork is a well-known name amongst some crowds, infamous for being the first criminal to be convicted of murder based on DNA evidence. On 21st November 1983, 15-year-old Lynda Mann set off from home to visit a friend. However she did not return from this trip, and her body was found on a lonely footpath the following morning. A

Late at night on 12th June 1994, a dogwalker discovered the brutally murdered bodies of Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman outside Nicole’s Beverly Hills home. Both victims had been stabbed repeatedly and had their throats cut while Nicole’s two sons were asleep inside the house. As police arrived at the scene and the investigation commenced, suspicion quickly

In November 2000, 16-year-old Leanne Tiernan was reported missing following a shopping trip with a close friend. A vast search operation ensued, involving the examination of hundreds of houses and gardens, the combing of nearby moorlands, and an underwater and air search in addition to this. However it was not until August 2001 that the body was found in Lindley

Sir Alec Jeffreys is renowned for his development of the first DNA fingerprinting techniques. He was initially working in Amsterdam with Dick Flavell, establishing how to detect single copies of human genes. In 1977, Jeffreys moved to Leicester, where he began using molecular biology techniques in the investigation of human genetics, using primitive gene detection methods to study gene structures

Edmond Locard, founder of the Institute of Criminalistics at the University of Lyon, France, developed what has become known as Locard’s Exchange Principle. This states that “every contact leaves a trace”, implying that a criminal will leave and and take away trace evidence when at a crime scene. Trace evidence often refers to minute samples of a substance, particularly fibres, hairs,