How 'The Genetic Detective' star helps law enforcement solve cold cases
A new crime docuseries "The Genetic Detective" follows one woman's unique ways to solve cases with genetic evidence.
The series that debuts Tuesday night on ABC follows investigative genetic genealogist Cece Moore, who first used her skills to trace down long-lost family members as a hobby. She uses those techniques to help law enforcement track down killers in some of the coldest of cases.
In 2018, the alleged Golden State killer was caught by investigators that used similar techniques of plugging old crime scene DNA into a genealogy website.
Moore was hired by Parabon, a DNA genetic technology company, to help law enforcement use genetic genealogy tracing and together they identified over 100 suspects.
Moore is not involved in obtaining criminal evidence herself. But by working with police departments and DNA she is able to trace the path of a violent criminal’s family tree to reveal their identity and help bring them to justice.
Moore, who is also a producer on the series, examines birth records, marriage records and other documented family history.
The premiere episode of the series looks back at Moore's first criminal case in which a young Canadian couple vanished in 1987 after taking a ferry ride from British Columbia to Seattle and their bodies were found a week later in different locations.
That crime was also the first case in which genetic genealogy was used to obtain a conviction through a jury trial.
Moore solves crimes from her home in California, where she lives with her husband and son.
Many of the cold cases Moore touches have gone decades without any leads and she has been able to find suspects in just a matter of hours on the computer using her reverse family tree tracing methods.
