Va. agency tests familial DNA software

Posted to: Crime News Virginia
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The Associated Press
© January 6, 2011

RICHMOND

The Virginia Department of Forensic Sciences is testing software needed to perform familial DNA searches.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that the agency accepted an offer from Denver district attorney Mitchell Morrissey to provide the software developed there to Virginia at no cost.

Familial DNA searches help identify criminal suspects using genetic material from their relatives.

Department of Forensic Science director Peter Marone says his lab likely will begin using the searches this year but officials want to do it right.

ACLU of Virginia Executive Director Kent Willis says the state should proceed cautiously with using the searches. He says someone shouldn't be a suspect just because a relative is a criminal.

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Bravo Virginia

Submitted by Chris33 on Thu, 01/06/2011 at 1:30 pm.

Bravo Virginia for this much needed move. Hopefully, other states will follow Virginia's lead.

Great News on FamiliaL Testing

Submitted by billthom56 on Thu, 01/06/2011 at 11:43 am.

As the brother of a murder victim in Virginia, still unsolved since 1986, I applaud this first step by the Virginia Department of Forensic Science. While this new software will not be used in my sister Cathy Thomas and her friend Rebecca Dowski's still unsolved murder-- the FBI has jurisdiction-- it could be used by the Virginia State Police in the other Colonial Parkway Murders in the Tidewater area of Virgina.

I applaud the Commonwealth of Virginia for their willingness to try this new technology, and the Associated Press for their ongoing coverage of this important crime-solving tool.

Bill Thomas
Brother of Cathleen Thomas
Los Angeles, CA