DNA Doe Project

DNA Doe Project (AKA DNA Doe Project, Inc. or DDP) is a non-profit organization of volunteers who use genetic genealogy to identify unidentified victims of: auto accidents, homicide, unusual circumstances, and people who committed suicide under an alias.^[1]

DNA Doe Project is a 501(c)(3) non-profit based in Sebastopol, California.^[2] It was founded in 2017 by Colleen Fitzpatrick and Margaret Press. The two, along with many volunteers, use genealogy in conjunction with DNA from unidentified victims to build family trees through GEDmatch, a free public DNA database. After reading a Sue Grafton novel about a Jane Doe, Margaret planned to use family trees to identify unidentified homicide victims. By March 2018 DNA Doe Project solved its first case.

Colleen is the founder of IdentiFinders, an organization which uses Y-chromosomal testing to attempt to identify male killers in unsolved homicides.^[3] IdentiFinders is also responsible for solving the identity of the unknown child on the Titanic. Previously she worked as a nuclear physics PhD with NASA and the Department of Defense.^[3] Margaret is a novelist with previous careers in: computer programming, speech, and language consulting.^[2] She retired from computer programming in 2015 and relocated from Salem, Massachusetts to Sebastopol, California to live near family.^[2] As a hobby, Press began pursuing genealogy in 2007; helping friends and acquaintances find their loved ones as well as helping adoptees find their biological parents.^[2]

Joseph Newton Chandler III, a resident of Eastlake, Ohio, committed suicide in his apartment on 24 July 2002. As authorities sought to identify his heirs, they discovered that his name and identity were fake. The real Joseph Newton Chandler III had died in a Sherman, Texas car accident at age eight on 21 December 1945. The suicide victim had stolen the boy’s identity in 1978, while living in South Dakota. Authorities began a search for the man’s real name.^{[4][5][6][7][8]}

Extracting DNA proved difficult, as the suicide victim’s remains had been cremated. In the year 2000, however, two years before his death, the victim had had a tissue sample taken for a medical treatment. Authorities obtained this sample, but genetic analysis of the sample using traditional law enforcement techniques yielded few clues. In 2016, authorities reached out to IdentiFinders, a company run by Dr. Colleen Fitzpatrick, for help. In examining the man’s Y-DNA signature, they determined that his true last name was likely “Nicholas” or some variation.^{[4][6][5][7][8]}

Later, in 2017, Dr. Fitzpatrick and Dr. Press formed the volunteer-based, nonprofit DNA Doe Project (DDP), and Chandler became its first case. A small group of volunteers at DDP analyzed the highly degraded sample of the man’s DNA, which had been stored in paraffin for about 15 years. Despite the obstacles, these researchers were able to conclusively determine that Joseph Newton Chandler III, who had committed suicide in 2002, was actually Robert Ivan Nichols, son of Silas and Alpha Nichols of New Albany, Indiana. This identification was verified when Robert’s son, Phillip Nichols, volunteered a DNA sample, which proved to be a match.^{[4][6][5][7][8]}

In 1981, Police found a murder victim in a ditch in Troy, Ohio. Because the victim, a female, was found wearing a distinctive buckskin coat, she was given the name “Buckskin Girl” as the case continued. For decades, authorities sought the woman’s identity, but to no avail.^[9][10]

Finally, at the 2017 American Academy of Forensic Sciences conference, Elizabeth Murray, a Ohio forensic anthropologist, met the founders of the DNA Doe Project and discussed what genetic genealogy techniques could do for the case. The victim’s body had long since been buried, but a vial of blood had been held in a lab for 37 years. The vial had not been refrigerated, however, leaving the DNA highly degraded, with only 50%-75% of markers remaining. With the help of Greg Magoon, a senior researcher at Aerodyne Research, they were able to upload this DNA data to GEDmatch, a site which provided a variety of tools for genetic genealogy analysis.^[9][10]

From here, the DNA Doe Project was able to identify the Buckskin Girl thanks to a very close DNA match (a first cousin once removed). Her real name was Marcia Lenore Sossoman King from Arkansas, age 21 at the time of her death. From here, DNA Doe Project volunteers provided law enforcement with the name of a close relative of King’s who lived in Florida. This relative volunteered a DNA sample to verify King’s identity. This sample proved to be a match. After 37 years, her mother was still living and had refused to move or change her phone number in hopes that her daughter might return.^[9][10]

In September 2001, a man was found to have hanged himself in a motel in Amanda Park, Washington. The man had checked in as “Lyle Stevik,” the name of a character in a Joyce Carol Oates novel. The Gray Harbour County Sheriff’s Office spent countless hours in search of the man’s true identity, but to no avail.^[11][12][13]

^[14] In 2018, the DNA Doe Project adopted the case at the request of the Sheriff’s Office. In order to raise the funds required to complete the necessary DNA tests, the DDP set up its first-ever “Doe Fund Me” campaign on his behalf. The campaign was a quick success, as by this time “Lyle” had gained Internet fame among websleuths. Adequate funds were raised within 24 hours. By 22 March 2018, DDP volunteers had obtained his DNA results and began analyzing.^{[11][12][13][14]}

After about 20 volunteers poured hundreds of hours into the case, a candidate was found in a 25-year-old young man from California. Authorities reached out to the man’s family, who were able to conclusively verify his identity using fingerprint samples they had from earlier years. The family has requested that Lyle’s true identity not be released.^{[11][12][13][14]}

Typically, each case at the DNA Doe Project undergoes the following steps:

1. Acceptance of case from law enforcement
2. Extraction of DNA sample (sometimes repeated if the first sample proves too degraded for analysis)
3. Fundraising for DNA sequencing
4. Sequencing of DNA sample
5. Bioinformatics "translates" the DNA sequencing into a digital data file that is compatible with GEDmatch
6. Uploading DNA data file to GEDmatch
7. Genealogical analysis using GEDmatch and other tools
8. Tentative identification of the Doe
9. Law enforcement verifies identity, typically using fingerprints or a DNA sample provided by an immediate relative

The following is a chart of the DNA Doe Project's ongoing cases, along with an indication of where each case is in the process:

• DNA Doe Project web site