Identifinders Assists Orange County DA’s Office in Solving the Oldest Jane Doe Case in the County
Identifinders International is honored to have assisted the Orange County District Attorney’s office in solving the oldest Doe case in Orange County. In March 1968, a woman was discovered badly beaten, raped, and with her throat slashed in a field in Huntington Beach, CA. All attempts to determine her identity failed until May 2020 when […]
Identifinders International Wins Fifth Place for DNA Hit of the Year
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 24, 2020 Contact: Colleen Fitzpatrick, PhDIdentifinders International714-296-3065 colleen@identifinders.com Identifinders International Selectedas Fifth Place in DNA Hit of the Year CompetitionPioneering Work on Sarah Yarborough Case Earns International Recognition Fountain Valley, CA – Identifinders International, in conjunction with the King Co. WA Sheriff’s Office, has been awarded Fifth Place in the Gordon Thomas […]
1968 Cold Case Murder of Gwen Miller Solved through Forensic Genealogy and Dedicated Detective Work
Identfinders is proud to have assisted the Rapid City Police Department in solving the murder of 60-year-old Gwen Miller. A press conference was held in Rapid City, SD on 17 June 2019 by Rapid City Chief of Police Karl Jegeris, Detective Wayne Keefe, Forensic Genealogists Dr. Colleen Fitzpatrick, Brendyn Medina, RCPD’s Community Relations Specialist, and […]
Press Conference on Cold Case – Rapid City SD – 2 pm – 17 Jun 2019
RCPD MEDIA ADVISORY:Press conference to discuss new findings in cold caseThe media is invited to attend a press conference discussing new findings in the cold case investigation into a Rapid City homicide from 1968.The press conference will be held Monday, June 17th at 2:00 p.m. in the second floor large training room at the Public […]
DNA-The Next Big Gold Rush?
The discovery of gold at Sutters Mill, CA in 1848 promised untold wealth for those who had the resources and stamina to outlast the competition. At the dawn of the California Gold Rush, there were no laws governing property rights; prospectors depended on a system of staking claims to protect their discoveries. Early prospectors did well, earning many times […]
Big Business or Big Brother?
At the recent American Academy of Forensic Science meeting in New Orleans, I attended the workshop The Opiate Crisis, Dirty Bombs, Big Data/Big Problems, and Driverless Cars: On the Leading Edge of Forensic Science – 2017 Theoretical Forensic Sciences “Think Tank”. It seemed like a good session to discover where forensic research is going, aside from the serious look the community […]
Who Am I? What is My Name? – Part XII – Taking Stock
As with all research projects, there have been so many zigzags in this story, it’s only reasonable to take a break to take stock of where we are in solving the puzzle of Pnina’s identity.
Who Am I? What Is My Name? Part XI – Berlin, Warsaw, and the German Soldier
I recently traveled to Berlin and Warsaw to personally research in the various German and Polish archives. My hope was to find more information about Gertrude Priess-Spiro and her circle of acquaintance and friends, towards the goal of finding the birth identity of Pnina Gutman, whom she helped smuggle from the Warsaw Ghetto in 1942. I feel […]
Who Am I – What Is My Name – Part X – Gertrude’s Marriage and Divorce
By now, everyone who reads this should know Gertrude Priess-Spiro, the woman who arranged to have Pnina Gutman smuggled from the Warsaw Ghetto in August or September 1942. New information about her has recently been discovered that provides details about her marriage to Leo Spiro. It also explains why she was listed under her maiden name […]
Extreme Genealogy – Arrival in Berlin and First Visit to the Berlin Bundesarchiv
Flight to Berlin and ArrivalThursday, August 11, 2016 My trip from Los Angeles to Berlin went smoothly with a layover in Keflavik Interntional Airport. It is the cleanest airport in the world. It felt more like an igloo than an airport – snug from the elements. Yet it was a beehive of activity – with people snacking […]