In previous years, Krebs would send the samples to the national clearinghouse at the University of North Texas Health Science Center, which accepts out-of-state samples to help identify the nameless dead. But this year she can’t. A crucial $1 million in funding from the federal National Institute of Justice was removed earlier this year, and state and local agencies can no longer get the free testing they have come to expect.
A special state committee Friday approved a recommendation that New York State adopt the use of familial searching, an emerging DNA procedure employed in some states to identify potential suspects.