No one has hours to scour the papers to keep up with the latest news, so we’ve curated the top news stories in the field of Forensic Science for this week. Here’s what you need to know to get out the door!
Dr. Jack Ballantyne Joins STRmix Advisory Board. National Center for Forensic Science Director Will Provide Independent Advice to STRmix (STRmix – 2/17/2026)
Dr. Jack Ballantyne, Director of the National Center for Forensic Science and a Professor of Chemistry at the University of Central Florida, has been named to the STRmix Advisory Board.
A regular invited guest at the FBI’s Scientific Working Group on DNA Analysis Methods (SWGDAM), Dr. Ballantyne is a former casework forensic scientist in Scotland, Hong Kong, and New York, where he proffered expert testimony in criminal cases.
Dr. Ballantyne currently teaches and conducts research in forensic molecular genetics, using biochemistry, molecular biology, and genomics to help forensic scientists retrieve more information from biological traces transferred during the commission of a crime.
The STRmix Advisory Board supports the ongoing success of the STRmix team, which is responsible for conducting leading-edge scientific research, developing award-winning software, and delivering comprehensive training and support.
The STRmix team’s software solutions include: STRmix™, a groundbreaking forensic software used to resolve mixed DNA profiles previously considered too complex to interpret; FaSTR™ DNA, which rapidly analyzes raw DNA data and assigns a number of contributors estimate; and DBLR™, which allows forensic laboratories to undertake extensive kinship analysis, carry out rapid database searches and mixture-to-mixture matches, and visualize the value of their DNA mixture evidence. Together, these solutions complete the full workflow, from DNA analysis to interpretation and database matching.
“Dr. Ballantyne’s extensive background in casework, provision of expert testimony, and forensic research represents a vitally important addition to the skills and experience the members of the STRmix Advisory Board already bring to their work,” says Björn Sutherland, Manager of the STRmix Team.
The STRmix Advisory Board acts as a consultative sounding board for the STRmix leadership and wider team. As an unpaid Advisory Board member, Dr Ballantyne will provide independent, non-binding advice and guidance based on their expertise in a range of business challenges and opportunities. These include environmental scanning, insights into market strategies, the capital program, general strategy, and risk.
Dr. Ballantyne possesses a B.Sc. (with honors) in Biochemistry from the University of Glasgow, Scotland, a M.Sc. in Forensic Science from the University of Strathclyde, Scotland, and a PhD in Genetics from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, NY.
Prior to entering academia, Dr. Ballantyne served as Chair of the New York State DNA Sub-committee, full-time DNA technical leader in Suffolk County, New York, and part-time consultant DNA technical leader for the states of Mississippi and Delaware, the city of Dallas, and Sedgwick County, Kansas.
STRmix Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of PHF Science, founded to better serve international users of STRmix group software. PHF Science (formerly ESR) is a New Zealand Government-owned research organization delivering world-class research, knowledge, and laboratory services.
NIST Releases New Forensic Genetic Reference Material to Help Crime Laboratories Analyze Challenging Cases (NIST – 2/17/2026)
NIST has released a new forensic DNA reference material, the first to include degraded DNA as well as mixtures of high-quality DNA from different individuals.
The reference material will help crime laboratories accurately analyze genetic evidence that has degraded or contains DNA from multiple individuals.
DNA laboratories can use the samples to help train analysts and validate forensic tests.
5,500 Years Ago, a Teenage Girl was Buried with Her Father’s Bones on Her Chest, New DNA Study Reveals (LiveScience – 2/17/2026)
A novel DNA analysis of skeletons excavated from a Neolithic hunter-gatherer cemetery in Sweden has revealed surprising family relationships.
Genealogy Identifies Doe as Man Missing Since 2009 (Forensic – 2/18/2026)
The Clermont Police Department announced that human remains located in 2009 on property now known as Lake Hiawatha Preserve have been positively identified as Ernest Jo Manzanares, whose disappearance had remained unresolved for years.
The identification was made possible through advanced DNA testing and genetic genealogy conducted in coordination with the 5th and 24th District Medical Examiner’s Office, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and Othram.
With New John Doe Identification, Florida Police Clear Cold Case List (Forensic – 2/18/2026)
Forty-six years after he was killed, a St. Petersburg Police detective has identified a John Doe victim as 29-year-old Johnny Bradshaw of Tennessee.
In April 1980, Bradshaw and Jack Roy Davis were in St. Petersburg and staying at the Siesta Motel on 34th street, when they were shot in the head.
Detectives quickly identified and searched for suspects Kyle Watson and his girlfriend, David Ann Thomas. Before they could be arrested, Thomas shot and killed Watson when they returned to Knoxville. Police eventually caught up with Thomas for being an accessory after the fact for driving the getaway car in the St. Petersburg double murder, and she served time in prison. She has since died.
At the time of the crime, Davis was immediately identified as a victim, but Bradshaw’s identity remained a mystery. Detectives circulated an artist’s rendering of him as well as a photo of the Italian horn pendant he wore.
Detectives exhumed Bradshaw’s body in 2010 in an attempt to identify him, but were unsuccessful. In 2023, Cold Case Detective Wallace Pavelski sent new bone samples to Othram, and they were able to extract a full DNA profile. Genealogy research over the next few years led Pavelski to contact family members in Texas and California. Bradshaw still has two living sisters who have been searching for him since 1980.
Mississippi Office of the State Medical Examiner & Natchez Police Department Team with Othram to Identify a 2024 John Doe (DNASolves – 2/18/2026)
In March 2024, a traffic stop in Natchez, Mississippi led to a chilling discovery. During the stop, the driver directed officers with the Natchez Police Department to a remote location, just ten feet off the road between Fatherland Road and the turnoff to the First Lutheran Church. There, beneath a layer of fallen leaves, officers found skeletal remains buried in a shallow grave. The remains were largely intact, but the head was missing. The Mississippi State Medical Examiner’s Office determined the remains belonged to an adult male, estimated to stand between 5’9″ and 6’4″ tall. An identification card found nearby suggested the man could have been around seventy years old, but an official identification could not be confirmed.
Despite a lengthy investigation, the man could not be identified and became known as Natchez John Doe. Details of the case were entered into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) as UP124871.
To advance the investigation, in June of 2024, the Mississippi State Medical Examiner’s Office teamed with Othram in The Woodlands, Texas to determine if advanced DNA testing could help identify the man. Othram scientists successfully developed a DNA extract from the provided evidence and then used Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing® to build a comprehensive DNA profile for the man. Othram’s in-house forensic genetic genealogy team used the profile in a forensic search to develop new investigative leads that were returned to law enforcement.
Using this new information, a follow-up investigation was conducted leading investigators to potential relatives of the man.A reference DNA sample was collected from a possible relative and compared to the DNA profile of the unidentified man using Othram’s KinSNP® rapid relationship testing. KinSNP® confirmed a close relationship, leading to the man being identified as William Francis Harrington, who was from Kentucky.
Mississippi County Sheriff’s Office, Arkansas Attorney General’s Cold Case Unit, & Arkansas State Police Team with Othram to Identify a 2006 John Doe (DNASolves – 2/18/2026)
On September 27, 2006, a highway department worker discovered human remains while mowing. The discovery was made on the side of a roadway in Mississippi County, Arkansas in the Buckeye Community. The Mississippi County Sheriff’s Office responded and began collecting evidence and investigating. It was determined that the remains belonged to an adult Black man, likely between the ages of 30 and 50. He was found wearing torn black running pants, briefs, white socks, a T-shirt and white tennis shoes and was about 5’11” tall.
Despite an investigation into his identity, the man could not be identified and he became known as Mississippi County John Doe. Details of the case were entered into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) as UP2827.
In June 2025, investigators teamed with Othram to leverage identity inference, a process that enables investigators to identify individuals from DNA evidence, even when there is no known reference sample to initially compare against. Officials with the Arkansas Attorney General’s Office Cold Case Unit, the Arkansas State Police Crime Lab, and the Mississippi County Sheriff’s Office worked together to submit forensic evidence to Othram’s laboratory headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas.
At Othram, scientists reviewed details of the case, determining that advanced DNA testing could help to identify the man. Othram scientists worked to develop a DNA extract from the provided skeletal remains, using Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing® to build a comprehensive SNP profile for the man. This SNP profile powered a forensic search led by Othram’s in-house forensic genetic genealogy team, resulting in new investigative leads about the man’s identity.
Using this new information, a follow-up investigation led investigators to potential relatives of the man. To determine the possible relationship between the relatives and Mississippi County John Doe, investigators collected a reference DNA sample from a possible family member. Using Othram’s KinSNP® rapid relation testing, a comparison between the family member’s DNA profile and the John Doe’s DNA profile was made. This comparison, along with the investigative efforts of law enforcement, have now led to the identification of Mississippi County John Doe as Little John Sutton, who was born on October 12, 1954. Sutton, who went by the name “James Harris,” was 51 years old at the time that his remains were found in 2006. If alive today, he would be 71 years old.
Sutton was last seen in Memphis, Tennessee in August of 2006. He left Tennessee for Missouri to work with a Memphis produce company and was not seen or heard from after again. Sutton was reported missing in October 2006 and the details of his case were entered into NamUs as MP160. An investigation into Sutton’s disappearance from Memphis is continuing.
UK Committee: Collapsing Forensic Science System is a National Scandal (Forensic – 2/18/2026)
Forensic science in England and Wales is not working. Not for the police, not for forensic scientists or lawyers and ultimately, it is not working for the public and the criminal justice system. This stark assessment, expressed during the inquiry by eminent forensic scientist Professor Angela Gallop, has been reinforced today by the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee in a report that found “little to contradict it.”