of the whole digging through trash to get a DNA sample as it seems kinda creepy.

They had the original DNA from the crime; found a possible match by genealogical research and confirmed it by testing discarded items. I don't see a problem here.

"An undercover operation at an elementary school where he was performing on May 31 as DJ Freez produced a water bottle and gum he had used, and state police subsequently established an alleged genetic match."
I cannot put my finger on why but it just seems creepy for them to be waiting around to rummage through the garbage for that.

been strong enough to obtain a warrant for a DNA sample thus why they choose to go that route but nonetheless its still a bit creepy imo.

to me it appears to be just good old-fashioned detective work.

As long as the chain of evidence is secure, it seems fine to me <shrug>

I suppose once one throws something in the garbage, they forfeit ownership and control of the trash. It's refuse that anyone can claim for any purpose. That's the basis of dumpster diving.

I have more of a privacy issue with genealogy sites sharing client DNA.

that it seems creepy personally to me for them to be rooting through garbage to get such evidence to test.
As for the genealogy issue that does not bother me to much because people do have the option from what I read with most of those services to not share their DNA so really that is just an issue of people needing to pay more attention and become more educated.

Not even identification of unidentified human remains.

What forensic genealogists are using are DNA profiles and family trees ported from those services by the submitters of the DNA to GEDmatch, which will allow communication and uploaded family tree information to show to to others who upload a DNA profile file that matches yours, indicating usually a third cousin at most. If they extract data from the preserved tissue, as they did to identity Robert Ivan Nichols, who stole the identity of a dead child in 1978, then upload it in the format used by those DNA testing companies for the consumer's download of their own DNA... the third cousins start matching to the forensic profile.

But most people on GEDmatch use aliases, don't upload family trees. I'm sure it'd be pretty disquieting to be contacted by law enforcement for your family tree and real name, but at least on the unidentified remains cases, Margaret and Colleen have said the people who were contacted were happy to help. Knowing even distant kin might be missing a loved one encouraged cooperation.

Not sure how people are going to feel if they see the Zodiac might be a distant cousin.

If you have something to hide, then this is definitely bad for you.

Corporations are not rummaging though the trash for our DNA. They already have it.

Very nice to see you!

If this is your first election year here, it's going to get very crazy later on!

Glad to see you've joined us.

I remember this was a big issue 5 years ago or so and then it seemed to drop off the radar.

Currently there are only a few labs able to extract the markers that are used for 23andMe/Ancestry/etc (home commercial testing) from something other than a ton of saliva.

It's almost proprietary technology, except that I know Margaret Press and Colleen Fitzpatrick, the two people who have pioneered this technique, would certainly share their algorithms to deal with degraded samples. They aren't interested in the glory, but forensic genealogy has the potential to give many John and Jane Does their names back.

After they gave Marcia King her name back and closure to the family of the young man who ended his life under the name Lyle Stevik, police agencies contacted those proprietary labs on large cold cases where they had DNA but CODIS hadn't provided even a familial match.

One thing that's important to note is that the idea of using publicly uploaded DNA and family trees -- stuff people have ported out of Ancestry and 23andMe and uploaded publicly to a database (GEDMatch) -- wasn't originally supposed to be about putting DNA profiles from criminals in, but putting the DNA of long-term unidentified decedents in after nothing matched with CODIS. The idea was closure for families. But if a family member was the killer, identification would lead to potential criminal charges. At least it wouldn't be petty crimes.

----

There is no statute of limitations on murder, and perhaps we need to put limits on just what cases forensic genealogy should be allowed, if for no other reason than to keep adoptees/broken families still feeling like they can use GEDmatch for that purpose without getting their third cousins sent up for crimes other than serial rape or murder. I think most would agree they'd be happy if their upload into GEDmatch uncovered a dirty cop who was responsible for so many rapes and murders they thought they had more than one killer, like the dozen or so distant relatives of the Golden State Killer did. But they wouldn't want it to go beyond rapes and murders to, say, drug deals.

His work name is DJ Freez in Lancaster. The photos available seem to look like publicity photos, so I'm not sure I can post them, but there is one to wish him "Happy Birthday" and calls him "Ray."

https://tinyurl.com/ya2y9nu8


Arrest made in Lancaster County cold case
By: Kevin Fitzsimmons
Posted: Jun 25, 2018 08:29 PM EDT

Updated: Jun 25, 2018 11:26 PM EDT

LANCASTER, Pa., - A Lancaster area disc jockey has been arrested and charged in the 1992 killing of a teacher in East Lampeter Township, Lancaster County, District Attorney Craig Stedman announced Monday evening.

49-year-old Raymond Rowe, known as "DJ Freez," is charged with criminal homicide in the death of Christy Mirack, 25. She was found dead in her townhome on December 21, 1992. She had been beaten, strangled and sexually assaulted.

"To say this is a major development would be quite the understatement. It is a huge step toward providing long-overdue closure for Christy’s family and friends who have spent decades wondering who brutally murdered their loved one," Stedman said.

In 2016, Lancaster County detectives took over the case, and began using new methods to test DNA evidence left at the scene. The DNA was submitted to Parabon NanoLabs, generating a genotype file, creating a composite of the killer’s attributes, including hair and eye color and skin tone, authorities said. Officials released the composite in November 2017.

More:
http://www.wfmz.com/news/pennsylvania/arrest-made-in-lancaster-county-cold-case/758675648

By trying to find a match through genealogy websites using a dna sample they had from an old case. A distant cousin of the killer popped up as a match and the FBI traced the family tree and narrowed it down to 5 suspects. They got the killer's dna samples from his car door and a discarded tissue. I have a feeling we're going to start seeing quite a few old cold cases solved. Amazing what they can do with technology these days.