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Virginia to Become the Third State to Use Familial DNA Searching
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Thursday, January 06, 2011

Virginia will soon be the third state to conduct Familial DNA searching after the Virginia Department of Forensic Science obtained the software from Colorado to use this new crime-fighting tool.  This new technique is being sought for two high-profile Virginia cases: the search for the so-called East Coast Rapist responsible for at least 22 attacks in five east coast states; and the killer of Virginia Tech student Morgan Harrington.
In November, 2010, Mitchell Morrissey, the Denver district attorney and a proponent of familial searching, told the Virginia State Crime Commission that his office would make Denver's familial search software available to Virginia at no cost. Brad Jenkins, the forensic biology program manager for the Virginia Department of Forensic Science, reported on January 5th, that the department accepted Morrissey's offer and is currently testing the software.  The familial search software would look for near-matches in the DNA database: a possible parent, child or sibling of the suspect who left DNA at the crime scene. Further lineage DNA testing can then narrow down the list of possible relatives identified in a familial search.
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