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Original Release Date: October 16, 2019
In episode five of our 2019 DNA season, Just Science continues the conversation from last week's episode with Dr. Barbara Rae-Venter, where she shared her techniques for creating family trees and discussed the resolution of her first cold case.
In February 2017, Forensic Magazine published an article detailing the Bear Brook Murders, an abandoned girl, and Rae-Venter's involvement in the resolution of a cold case that tied them all together. One month later, she was contacted by investigator Paul Holes and was on the hunt yet again. Listen along as she discusses building a profile and explains how she used investigative genetic genealogy to identify the Golden State Killer.
This episode of Just Science is funded by the National Institute of Justice’s Forensic Technology Center of Excellence [Award 2016-MU-BX-K110].
Related Resources
Guest Biography
Barbara Rae-Venter is a genetic genealogist has been a volunteer Search Angel with DNAAdoption.org and has helped adopted people find their genetic parents. Barbara Rae-Venter, J.D., Ph.D., is a retired intellectual property attorney who specialized in the patenting of biotechnology inventions. She earned a J.D. from the University of Texas at Austin Law School and a B.A. double major in Psychology and Biochemistry and a Ph.D. in Biology (Biochemistry) at the University of California at San Diego. She is licensed to practice before the US Patent and Trademark Office and the State Bar of California (inactive). As a volunteer with DNAadoption.com, Barbara volunteered her time to work on a project for the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department Crimes Against Children Detail to identify, successfully, the immediate family of “Lisa Jensen”, a woman now in her 30s, who was abducted as a toddler. Lisa did not know either who she is or where she was from.
The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this podcast episode are those of the presenter(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Department of Justice.
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