It took nearly 28 years for police in Prince George鈥檚 County, Maryland, to determine the identity of the man detectives say killed 50-year-old Sherry Crandell back in 1998.
The case had gone cold until a few years ago, when the department turned to what鈥檚 known as “genetic genealogy” in the hopes of using DNA taken from the crime scene to look for new leads.
鈥淚ts effectiveness has led to the Department of Justice, basically expanding its grant programs so that local law enforcement can take advantage of this process, because it’s an expensive process,鈥� said Robert Dean, a special assistant state鈥檚 attorney in Prince George鈥檚 County. 鈥淭he actual laboratory work, a lot of that is done by private labs, and they charge.鈥�
Typically, a case costs between $30,000 to $60,000. Prince George鈥檚 County applied for and was awarded a $500,000 grant in 2020 to help solve cases such as the Crandell case.
鈥淚’m proud to say that this was the first case that was submitted for testing,鈥� said County Executive Aisha Braveboy, who was the county鈥檚 top prosecutor at the time the grant application was submitted.
The closest genetic hit that investigators got came from a fourth cousin of the suspect. The FBI has also started providing local departments with greater resources, especially on the genealogical side.
鈥淥ur investigative genetic genealogy team started working Sherry’s case four years ago,鈥� said Jimmy Paul, special agent in charge of the FBI鈥檚 Baltimore Field Office. 鈥淭hey kept at it, following lead after lead, a thorough, detailed and time consuming process, which finally paid off this year.”
It’s a process that’s worthwhile, he added.
鈥淭hrough investigative genetic genealogy, investigators are able to solve the worst of the worst crimes and identify the worst of the worst criminals, even when decades have passed since the crimes took place,” Paul said.
Millions of federal grant dollars are now available to departments that apply for them to solve cases with genetic genealogy. Dean said without that support, the Crandell case would not yet be solved.
鈥淚t would have taken longer. So maybe we would be talking, instead of four years after this grant was available, maybe eight years,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he technology is there, but accessing the technology does cost money.”
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
漏 2025 海角社区app. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
