DNA: ID
About the host; Jess Bettencourt:
Jess, a cum laude graduate of Georgetown Law School, practiced law for many years, but then decided to follow her passion for true crime. She now researches, writes, hosts and co-produces every episode of DNA: ID, the only podcast about cold case homicides and John and Jane Doe identifications solved by IGG. She also writes, hosts, and co-produces Missing Persons with Mike Morford. Her resume includes writing and co-producing Scene of the Crime; writing Season 1 of Campus Killings; and ghost writing for True Crime Garage.
About the show:
We all hear stories almost daily now about cold cases being solved by investigative genetic genealogy. This new crime-solving tool answers the “who” question about these often decades-old crimes.... but what about the why? This podcast will look at crimes solved by genetic genealogy, and examine the connection - if any - between the victim and the killer, and why the crime occurred. Each case is unique, and has its own story behind the headline. DNA: ID is hosted by Jess Bettencourt, and publishes every other Monday.
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Latest Episodes
Episode 151 Doe: ID Anthony Gulley
In December, 2001, a pair of men cutting firewood in Canton, Ohio made a gruesome discovery not far off into a field from a county road. They found a skeletonized body with no identification. A medical examination concluded that the body was likely that of a young African-American woman between the ages of 22-31, and about 5”7” tall. Later DNA analysis would prove that the victim was actually Male, and not Female. By that point, valuable time and resources had been spent trying to match the victim to case of missing women. DNA and genealogy would also later reveal that the John Doe was actually, a man named Anthony Bernard Gulley who went missing on September 11, 1994 along with his car from Pontiac, Michigan. His vehicle was found burned out the next day over 200 miles away in Akron, Ohio. Police quickly uncovered a suspect in the disappearance of Anthony Gulley; a man he knew named George Frederick Washington who had an extensive criminal record. Washington died via a self inflicted gunshot wound after a shootout with police in 1994. Washington had reportedly told someone that he had killed Anthony Gulley in a hotel room and then dumped his body in a river. When Gulley's unidentified body was found on land, and not water, (and thought to be the remains of a woman), police didn't connect the discovery to Gulley. Now, Anthony Gulley has his name back, and this is his story.
Episode 150 Sarah Yarborough Parts 1 & 2
There are some case that really grip the community, that undercut the sense of safety and security, and that make people lose their faith in humanity. The murder of Sarah Yarborough was such a case. Sarah was just 16 years old when she was sexually assaulted and murdered in one of the places she should have felt the safest – the grounds of her high school. Not only that, but the crime happened in broad daylight, and there were witnesses who saw her killer. It was impossible that he was not apprehended – but he wasn’t. Despite the groundbreaking use of YDNA to identify the killer’s possible surname, the case remained unsolved for years. When IGG finally provided answers, revealing at long last the name of the man who killed Sarah Yarborough, the Yarborough family and the community of Federal Way, WA breathed a sigh of relief.
Episode 149 Doe: ID Kay Adams Medin
n February 1993, a man walking along Trinidad Head; a rocky promontory beach area near the town of Trinidad in Humboldt County, California, made a shocking discovery. He found what he believed to be a piece of human skull. He contacted authorities who verified his hunch. DNA from the skull fragment would be entered into various databases in an effort to learn the identify of the donor with no luck. Years later, the skull fragment would be connected to another case through DNA.
In November, 1987, the Humboldt County Sheriff's dept received an package in the mail from an anonymous sender. It contained human skeletal remains and an accompanying letter provided directions to more human remains near Ammon Ridge Road in Humboldt County. Investigators went to the location, and found more human remains. An examination of teeth found with the remains confirmed that they belonged to 48 year old Kay Adams Medin. She had been reported missing from her Trinity County home by her husband in August 1987. The location in Humboldt County where her remains were found is over 100 miles away from her home.
Eventually, Othram Labs did DNA work on the skull fragment found in 1993 at Trinidad Head, and their work led them to ID the skull fragment as belonging to Kay Adams Medin. That skull fragment was found 45 miles from Kay's home. It remains a mystery as to how the skull fragment wound up so far away from the rest of Kay's remains.
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