Identifinders Blog

DNA Rule-Out for Cold Case, Australia, 1970 – Part II
Through a casual exchange of emails a few weeks ago, Deb Cashion alerted me to a recent article “Police chase DNA of Elmer Crawford relatives in

DNA Rule-Out for Cold Case, Australia, 1970 – Part I
A crime that could not escape media attention in Australia, any more than the Manson family murders could have evaded the public eye here in the States-Elmer

Unknown Child on the Titanic – Part IV (Conclusion)
When AFDIL attempted an identification through Y-DNA, I was asked by my colleague Dr. Odile Loreille to find a Y-DNA reference for Sidney Goodwin. We were just finishing up the

Unknown Child on the Titanic – Part III
To understand what happened next, you have to know a little about mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). Mitochondrial DNA is contained in small, football-shaped inclusions outside the

Unknown Child on the Titanic – Part II
After eight and a half decades, there was little left of the child’s body. Only a small piece of wrist bone and the crowns of

Unknown Child on the Titanic – Part I
On April 20-23 1912, on its mission from Halifax to salvage remains from the Titanic, the crew of the cable ship Mackay-Bennett pulled 306 bodies from the frigid