How much DNA does Maury have on file? Update to this story.
Via Sacramento Bee:
Sacramento investigators tracked down East Area Rapist suspect Joseph James DeAngelo using genealogical websites that contained genetic information from a relative, the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office confirmed Thursday.
The effort was part of a painstaking process that began by using DNA from one of the crime scenes from years ago and comparing it to genetic profiles available online through various websites that cater to individuals wanting to know more about their family backgrounds by accepting DNA samples from them, said Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Grippi.
The investigation was conducted over a long period of time as officials in Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert’s office and crime lab explored online family trees that appeared to have matches to DNA samples from the East Area Rapist’s crimes, Grippi said. They then followed clues to individuals in the family trees to determine whether they were potential suspects.
The process finally came to fruition last Thursday, when the investigation focused on the possibility that DeAngelo might be a suspect, a suspicion that was bolstered by the fact that he had lived in areas where the attacks occurred and was in the right age range, Grippi said.
That discovery set the investigation into high gear, with Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones’ investigators setting up surveillance on DeAngelo in his quiet Citrus Heights neighborhood and obtaining his DNA from something he discarded, Schubert and Jones said at a news conference Wednesday.
Results from comparing that DNA sample to the original crime scene samples were positive for matching DeAngelo to the crimes, Grippi said, but officials wanted the strongest possible link and set out to collect a second, more robust sample.
Those results came back from the D.A.’s crime lab Monday evening, leading to a rush to prepare for an arrest of DeAngelo, an effort that officials said they wanted to make quickly to ensure public safety after a 44-year mystery.