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I was in the midst of writing a series on consumer DNA testing when news broke that police had arrested a suspect in the Golden State Killer case. Investigators had reportedly used an ancestry database to track the man down, and speculation was that either AncestryDNA or 23andMe, two popular direct-to-consumer testing companies, had turned over customer data to the police. Both companies denied involvement.

Using just my DNA, a genealogist was able to identify me in three and a half hours. It wasn’t hard. I’d previously sent a DNA sample to the genetic testing company 23andMe Inc. and then uploaded my data anonymously to a genealogy website.

Dr. Colleen Fitzpatrick tells Dateline’s Keith Morrison about a new tool police are embracing to solve cold cases.

Thirty-eight years ago, an infant boy—hours old, tears frozen on his face—was found dead in a ditch in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Last week, police arrested his mother and charged her with murder, after investigators uploaded the baby’s DNA to a genealogy website and matched her relatives.

For months, genealogy experts at a firm called Identifinders International examined the DNA of a suspect in a Warwick jogger’s death, learning a lot about his ancestry—but not his name. A big break came when the firm, working with the Warwick Police Department in investigating the 2013 death of a 66-year-old John “Jack” Fay, saw a Buzzfeed News article published Jan. 31.

The mysteries of unknown fate and unexplored lineage weave through the investigations of forensic genealogist Colleen Fitzpatrick, Ph.D. Also an engineer and physicist, she outlines the need for collaboration and data sharing between forensics and genealogy, offers thoughts on future developments, and touches on two historic cold cases.

SANTA CRUZ — When they’re planning to rob a liquor store, most criminals think to wear gloves and cover their faces. But few of them commit to shaving their heads to avoid leaving behind even a single strand of hair.

In an evolving branch of forensic science, genealogists help solve crimes, sometimes identifying suspects with the DNA of distant relatives they’ve never met. As cold cases yield, concerns about privacy issues persist.

On the afternoon of Nov. 18, 1987, Jay Cook and Tanya Van Cuylenborg left Saanich, B.C., their hometown, to pick up some furnace equipment in Seattle for Cook’s father. Saanich and Seattle are a little more than 100 miles apart, but the trip takes almost five hours: a ferry into the U.S. across the Strait of Juan de Fuca, another across Puget Sound, and between them a winding coastal drive through evergreen forests and fishing towns.

On the afternoon of Nov. 18, 1987, Jay Cook and Tanya Van Cuylenborg left Saanich, B.C., their hometown, to pick up some furnace equipment in Seattle for Cook’s father. Saanich and Seattle are a little more than 100 miles apart, but the trip takes almost five hours: a ferry into the U.S. across the Strait of Juan de Fuca, another across Puget Sound, and between them a winding coastal drive through evergreen forests and fishing towns.