Does he look familiar? DNA can show the face of a killer for Cold Case detectives
Three portraits, one man?
A Snapshot Phenotype Report shows what the suspect would look like at age 25 and what the suspect would look like age progressed to age 65.
These images were produced from three different crime scenes. People have noted that all three suspects look so similar, there could be just one, not three, killers on the roam. Is it because the DNA matches? Someone should have noticed that by now, if that were the case. Is it because the computer-generated "snapshots" follow a template that gives us a generic picture?
Old DNA taken from a crime scene
can be used to show us what the killer may have looked like. Police departments and detectives have been sending samples to Parabon NanoLabs, a technology company in Virginia that (among many other techno-advances) uses DNA phenotyping to create a "Snapshot" of the likely (or possible) physical appearance and ancestry of a person. Using predictions about the suspect’s ancestry, eye color, hair color, skin color, freckling, and face shape, Parabon creates a composite photo, with three images to show how the killer may look as he ages.
Snapshot profiles are NOT photographs.
"They are a general idea of what the person might look like based upon nationality and other evidence from DNA. My concern is, if people focus too much on small details, the perpetrator could be overlooked due to variances from the profile, such as nose or ear shapes. Snapshots have been quite accurate... but they're not photos!" --Jane Hansen, Michelle Martinko Cold Case 1979
But if this looks like someone you know,
You could help find the killer of
Michelle Martinko
At 4 a.m. on Thursday, December 20, 1979, police found 18-year-old Michelle Marie Martinko — her face and chest stabbed repeatedly — in her family’s tan 1972 Buick 4-door in Cedar Rapids’ Westdale Mall parking lot. The Kennedy High School senior had driven to the newly opened mall after a school choir banquet to shop for a new winter coat.
--More at Iowa Cold Case 85-06117; Case summary compiled by Jody Ewing
Her killer can still be caught and brought to justice!
The Golden State Killer was caught as a result of
Snapshot Genetic Genealogy (GG),
the combination of genetic analysis with traditional historical and genealogical research to study family history. For forensic investigations, it can be used to identify remains by tying the DNA to a family with a missing person or to point to the likely identity of a perpetrator.
The snapshots are not an exact replica of appearance,
which can be altered by factors like smoking, diet, drinking, facial hair and hairstyle. Police caution that the snapshot uses assumptions about the suspect's age and body weight, which cannot be determined from DNA. However, the hope is that public sharing of the composite image might help someone recognize the suspect and provide information to investigators.
Sketches, not photos,
are now being produced, and I'm guessing it's because photos were misleading. This is the new look:
source
The striking resemblance of three different suspects
from California, Maryland, and Iowa might lead us to think the same man committed all the crimes, but two of the images come with a DNA profile that is very similar but not identical. I did not find numbers on the Montgomery profile.
I don't know how precise these numbers are, but the discrepancy in the percentages, as shown in the profile, lead me to suspect the faces may look like a match from one crime to the next, but the numbers would suggest three different men committed these crimes.
Detectives Seeking Public Assistance in Cold Cases
BY DANIELLE E. GAINES | Published: 2018.07.09 11:00
....Police believe three crimes in 1989 and 1994 were committed by the same man:
On June 25, 1989, at approximately 10:15 p.m., a 52-year-old woman was walking on Lewis Avenue in Rockville when the suspect approached her from behind, assaulted her, and then raped her. DNA evidence was recovered in that case.
On Sept. 19, 1994, a 25-year-old woman was walking on Twinbrook Parkway around 10:20 p.m. when the suspect approached her from behind while armed with a knife. The suspect dragged her to the side of her residence where he attempted to rape her. The victim successfully resisted the assault, fled, and called police.
On Oct. 3, 1994, Le Bich-Thuy, 42, was found dead outside her home in the 1600 block of Martha Terrace in Rockville. Police discovered that Bich-Thuy had been assaulted, raped, and then strangled. Police believe she was last known to be alive around 10 p.m. on Sept. 28, 1994, as she left the Twinbrook Metro station. The suspect's DNA was also recovered in this case.
... Anyone with information on any of these crimes is asked to call police at 240-773-5070. Crime Solvers of Montgomery County is offering up to $10,000 for information that leads to the suspect's arrest. Callers can contact Crime Solvers anonymously at 1-866-411-TIPS (8477).
DNA Evidence Left at Scene Used to Create Suspect Composite in Unsolved Rapes and Murder
A Virginia-based company, using DNA
to predict the physical features and ancestry of a suspect, has produced images of a man believed to have killed Martinko in Cedar Rapids on Dec. 19, 1979.
The computer-generated renderings of the suspect, shown how he might appear at age 25 (with short hair), age 25 (with longer hair) and age 50, were created using a database of DNA phenotypes — or the physical expressions of genetic code — and were submitted to Iowa Cold Cases by Cedar Rapids Police Investigator Matt Denlinger.
Read Lee Hermiston’s full story at TheGazette.com
Cedar Rapids police ask that any reproductions of these renderings include the full content of each page. (Please do not crop.) You may also download all three pages in PDF format here
One Man? Or three different killers?
Maryland (left), 1989-1994 | Iowa (center) 1979, | California (right) 1973
42 years later, investigators hope new photos lead to cold case killer
By Brittany Schmidt, WBAY Staff | Posted: Mon 11:13 AM, Jul 09, 2018 | Updated: Tue 8:48 AM, Jul 10, 2018
MARINETTE COUNTY, Wis. (WBAY) - It's been 42 years since a Green Bay couple was murdered during a camping trip in Marinette County, and investigators hope new composite photos of the suspect will help them catch the killer.
On July 9, 1976, David Schuldes and Ellen Matheys were killed as they walked in McClintock Park in the Town of Silver Cliff. Schuldes, 25, was found shot to death in the park. Matheys, 24, was sexually assaulted and shot to death. Her body was found in a wooded area outside the park.
The case went cold. The Sheriff's Office on Monday released a new composite photo of the suspect that was created using DNA technology ...
... The DNA analysis found the suspect would have had fair-to-very fair skin color (93.4 percent confidence), blue/green eyes (92.6 percent confidence) and reddish brown/black hair (97.4 percent confidence).
@Parabon
At Parabon we are developing next generation scientific computing platforms to help advance bioinformatics research and drug and vaccine development. Reston, VA | parabon.com
11-year-old Linda O'Keefe
On July 6, 1973, 11-year-old Linda O'Keefe left for her Newport Beach home after a day at summer school.
She never made it back.
Some 45 years later, Newport Beach PD is trying to solve the mystery in a novel way: by live tweeting 11-year-old Linda O'Keefe’s final day in her own voice, using #LindasStory
See Linda's Video here
Someone at Newport Beach PD is an excellent writer with a gift for storytelling. We need more writers to do this with all the cold cases.
“But now, 45 yrs later, I have a voice again. And I have something important to say. There is a new lead in my case: a face. A face that comes from DNA that the killer left behind. It’s technology that didn’t exist back in 1973, but it might change everything today.” #LindasStory
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Here is a scientific explanation of Phenotyping and Cold Cases via @vidocq_cc (Alice) at Defrosting Cold Cases.
Fascinating stuff.
Yet another instance in how many good ways there are to use new and previously unavailable technologies. I really hope they get a break in these cases.
I hope so too, but it's not looking good, absent any forensic evidence. I keep thinking there must have been some guy's skin under her long fingernails... but in 1976, small town police weren't collecting DNA.
True enough.
So many young woman have been murdered and disappeared without a trace, and there are just SOOOO many cold cases.
I used to work at Carnation Company's world headquarters on Wilshire Blvd., and I remember one day when a coworker didn't come to work, which wasn't like her. Her supervisor tried to reach her, failed, then wound up ultimately calling her apartment's superintendent to check on her. This was on a Monday.
The super, receiving no response to his knock, looked in her window and saw her lying on the floor. He quickly entered and checked for vital signs; there were none. She had died from multiple stab wounds. He called the police.
Naturally, no one saw anything. She had been alive Friday night, neighbors heard a low conversation through the wall that sounded like she was speaking with a man, but no one saw him. There was no sign of struggle, no sign of forced entry; just her dead body.
I am sorry to say that I only vaguely remember her. We didn't know one another, and she worked on a different floor, but we'd met a couple of times in passing.
But her death affected me deeply, along with my friends who worked there; we all knew that this could have happened to any of us.
I didn't discuss it with my family, as I was living on my own across town, and didn't want to worry them, especially my mom. And I had an advantage that this unfortunate young woman did not have; my roommate was my 135-pound Newfoundland, Ebony, who would absolutely have protected me with her life.
Haunting!
This sounds like a bad thing to say, but it's good to hear that you and other coworkers were "deeply" affected by the senseless murder of a woman you didn't even know very well. The killer apparently lives on, undetected, indifferent to the suffering inflicted on others.
Funny: there's a Carnation factory in the town where my sister was killed.
Interesting, and yes, perhaps haunting as well.
I worked there when it was still a family owned business, and seriously misogynistic, as were most companies at the time. But I worked with some great people, many of whom became friends.
I was always sorry I hadn't gotten to know this young woman better, as those who knew her held her in high regard, and were devastated by her loss. I can only imagine whet her family went through.