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!
Federal Jury Convicts Armed Multi-Convicted Felon in Explosive Arson and Counterfeit Oxy Fentanyl Scheme (United States Attorney’s Office Southern District of Florida – 5/28/2026)
A federal jury in Fort Lauderdale convicted a multi-convicted felon who ignited a vehicle on fire, loaded with fentanyl disguised as oxycodone pills, crack cocaine, cash, and a firearm while law enforcement officers stood nearby during a Palm Beach County drug trafficking investigation.
According to court records and evidence presented at trial, Willie James Skipper, Jr., 42, of Boynton Beach, was under law enforcement surveillance on Oct. 31, 2025, after officers observed him engaging in suspected hand-to-hand narcotics exchanges in an area of Palm Beach County known for violent crime and open-air drug trafficking. A narcotics-detection K-9 later alerted to Skipper’s vehicle.
“This case shows the lethal mix we are confronting in South Florida: fentanyl disguised as prescription pills, crack cocaine, cash, firearms, and violence,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida. “The evidence at trial showed that Willie James Skipper Jr., a multi-convicted felon, set fire to a vehicle loaded with drugs and a firearm while law enforcement officers stood just feet away. That explosion could have killed officers and innocent people nearby. Thanks to the courage of our federal, state, and local partners, this defendant was stopped, convicted, and now faces serious federal prison time.”
While officers waited for a tow truck to impound the vehicle, Skipper walked to a nearby gas station, purchased gasoline, returned to the vehicle, poured gasoline onto it, and ignited the vehicle, causing a major explosion while officers were positioned within feet of the vehicle. Skipper then fled on foot before being taken into custody.
A subsequent search of the vehicle revealed distribution quantities of fentanyl disguised as oxycodone pills, crack cocaine, large amounts of cash, and a loaded firearm concealed in hidden compartments.
During trial, expert witnesses and law enforcement officers testified regarding the dangers posed by fentanyl disguised as legitimate prescription medication, the violent nature of the vehicle fire, and the risk of catastrophic injury posed by nearby propane tanks. Additional testimony established that DNA evidence linked Skipper to both the narcotics and the firearm recovered from the vehicle.
The jury convicted Skipper of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and cocaine, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and arson.
Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office Teams with Othram to Identify a 1984 Jane Doe (DNASolves – 5/30/2026)
In January 1984, the body of an unidentified woman was discovered at a landfill in Tarrant County, Texas. Investigators determined that the woman had died before being transported to the landfill, but despite extensive investigative efforts, her identity remained unknown. For more than four decades, the woman was known only as Tarrant County Jane Doe.
Over the years, investigators pursued numerous leads in an effort to identify the woman and notify her family. Despite those efforts, no matches were made, and the case remained unresolved. Biological evidence collected during the original investigation was preserved, creating an opportunity for future forensic testing as DNA technology advanced. Details of the case were entered into NamUs as UP4526.
In 2025, the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office partnered with Othram to leverage advanced DNA testing and forensic genetic genealogy in hopes of identifying the woman. Multiple evidence items from the original investigation were submitted to Othram’s laboratory in The Woodlands, Texas. Othram scientists used Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing® to develop a comprehensive DNA profile suitable for genealogical analysis.
The profile was then used by Othram’s forensic genetic genealogy team in a forensic search, which generated new leads. In February 2026, the work produced a potential family connection to individuals bearing the Hinson surname. Investigators followed up on the lead and located a man who reported that his sister, Joyce Ann Hinson, had not been seen or heard from since late 1983.
The man told investigators that Joyce had briefly returned to her parents’ home in Tennessee before leaving again. According to family members, Joyce frequently hitchhiked and traveled across multiple states. Before her disappearance, she contacted her mother and reported that she was traveling through Texas, including the Austin and Dallas-Fort Worth areas. Her last known communication was a phone call indicating that she was in North Texas. After that call, her family never heard from her again.
To help confirm the potential identification, the man provided a DNA sample for comparison. In March 2026, Othram developed a DNA profile suitable for kinship analysis, and subsequent testing confirmed that the unidentified woman and the man were full siblings.
Armed with a potential identity and additional biographical information, the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office partnered with the FBI to obtain further confirmation. Investigators compared partial postmortem fingerprints recovered from the decedent with fingerprints associated with a 1981 arrest record. The comparison confirmed that the woman found in Tarrant County in 1984 was Joyce Ann Hinson.
At Ramapo DNA Lab, Genealogy Meets Science to Solve Cold Cases (New Jersey Education Association – 6/1/2026)
Dozens of times over four years, researchers have hit on matches that bring closure to families and free the wrongfully convicted
12-Year-Old’s Body Exhumed for Modern Forensic Analysis (Forensic – 6/1/26)
Last week, cold case detectives from the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department attended the exhumation of 1969 homicide victim Nora Kathylene “Kathy” Jones.
A forensic review by the Medical Examiner’s Office, using technology not available in the 1960s, will be conducted in an effort to further the investigation.
Kathy was 12 years old when she was found deceased in an empty lot.
College’s First Cold Case Class Making Progress in Solving 2010 Murder (Forensic – 6/1/26)
Students in Ferris State University’s inaugural Cold Case Investigations class say they are making progress on a mystery that has been unsolved for years.
Steven Amey, a former St. Clair County Sheriff’s detective and tenured professor in the Ferris State School of Criminal Justice, said students laid the groundwork for their investigation by organizing decades of investigative material, converting thousands of pages into searchable Optical Character Recognition documents.
Student work generated new investigative questions and led to evidence being resubmitted for modern forensic analysis. This Cold Case class reinforced real-world investigative context.
Pollen Analysis Reveals New Clues in Unidentified Kayaker Case (Forensic – 6/1/26)
Forensic analysis of pollen has revealed new clues as to where a Jane Doe spent her last days before her body was discovered in the English Bay (British Columbia, Canada) in 2022.
With the new evidence, the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) is renewing its appeal for help in identifying the woman. The department has released an updated video featuring the new forensics, an interview with the tugboat captain that found the woman, and traveled to Seattle to introduce the case to U.S. audiences—a further appeal for public assistance.
“When we go before the public in Seattle and Portland, our hope is that someone is going to see it and know something and give us that one piece of information that solves this case and identifies this young lady,” said Sargeant Anton Schamberger of VPD’s Missing Persons Unit.
Unearthing Namibia’s Forgotten Genocide through Forensic Archaeology (Forensic – 6/1/26)
The Namibian genocide was one of the first genocides of the 20th century. Between 1904 and 1908, tens of thousands of Ovaherero and Nama people were killed under German colonial rule.
Despite the scale of these events, the material and human legacy of this genocide remains less understood than later atrocities. Historical accounts exist, but are often incomplete or shaped by the perspectives and priorities of the colonial period in which they were produced.
The landscapes of Namibia that testify to this violence still survive, but are under increasing pressure from urban expansion, infrastructure development and environmental change. Archaeological research is playing a key role in documenting and protecting this heritage.
The Centre of Archaeology at the University of Huddersfield has, in conjunction with community representatives, the research groups Forensic Architecture and Forensis and the Swakopmund Genocide Museum, conducted field work in Namibia across two seasons (2023 and 2025). Our work has focused on sites linked to German colonial concentration camps in Swakopmund and Lüderitz.
Using forensic methods, our project seeks to locate, document and protect burial sites associated with the genocide. We aim to demonstrate how archaeology can confirm historical events, provide physical evidence, support commemoration and strengthen claims for reparations.
The research combines archival study with field methods including: GIS mapping (computer-based spatial mapping and analysis of archaeological data), walkover survey (systematic on-the-ground inspection of visible archaeological features), Ground Penetrating Radar (a geophysical technique that uses radar waves to detect buried structures without excavation), GPS survey, drone imagery and targeted excavation.
Genealogy Identifies Sexual Battery Suspect from 1998 Cold Case (Forensic – 6/3/26)
On Tuesday, May 26, 2026, detectives assigned to the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office Cold Case Unit arrested a sexual battery suspect from a 1998 cold case.
According to detectives, on March 8, 1998, the victim, who was 20 years old at the time, was at a club in Ybor City with a group of friends but left the club alone. While outside of the club, she was approached by two unknown males who offered to give her a ride home to Pinellas County.
Detectives say that after one male subject was dropped off, the suspect male drove toward Pinellas County and parked in a wooded area on the north side of the Gandy Bridge. The victim attempted to exit the vehicle, but the suspect locked the door and struck her multiple times in the face. The suspect then sexually battered the victim while threatening her with a firearm. The suspect struck the victim several more times, threatened to kill her if she called the police, and ordered her out of the vehicle. The suspect then left, driving toward Tampa.
Once out of the vehicle, the victim ran and reported the sexual battery to a passerby, who drove the victim to a nearby business to call 911. Deputies responded and due to the serious injuries sustained, the victim was transported to the hospital.
Detectives collected DNA evidence from the victim after the Sexual Assault Victim Examination (SAVE) was completed. This DNA was provided to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) where a profile of the suspect was created and uploaded into national and state databases, but no matches were found at the time.
In October 2018, FDLE announced a new initiative for a genetic genealogy program and in October 2019, accepted the cold case for genealogy mapping. This testing allows detectives to work backward from the identified family member, toward the unknown suspect.
In September 2021, FDLE provided detectives with three names from the suspect family tree to investigate. Detectives followed those leads and received information to assist in the case. In April 2026, the FDLE Genetic Genealogy Team discovered additional information that led them to the suspect, 53-year-old Lester Austin III. Through investigative techniques, detectives confirmed the suspect was Lester Austin III.
On May 26, 2026, the US Marshal’s Task Force located Austin at his residence and took him into custody. Austin was transported to the Pinellas County Jail for two counts of Armed Sexual Battery.
SAKI Funds Help Solve 1997 Permian Basin Sexual Assault Case (Forensic – 6/3/26)
Authorities in the Permian Basin have now identified the man they believe violently raped a 49-year-old woman in a mall parking lot in Midland almost 30 years ago. Last month, James Lee Woodard, now 61, was arrested in Big Spring and charged with aggravated sexual assault.
On Sept. 1, 1997, Midland Police Department officers responded to the Midland Park Mall after a woman reported being sexually assaulted in the parking lot. The woman was taking out trash when an unidentified man grabbed her, threatened her with a box cutter and forced her into a light-colored van. She was driven around the area by another suspect as the assault took place, and was eventually let out of the van.
Over the years, investigators interviewed several witnesses, reviewed tips from the community and submitted DNA collected from evidence into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS)—but no one was ever arrested. In 2001, the Midland District Attorney’s Office presented this case to the 142nd District Court Grand Jury, which issued an indictment of the DNA profile for aggravated sexual assault—nullifying the statute of limitations on this case.
Then, in March 2023, the Texas Rangers, in coordination with the Midland Police Department, identified this case for the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) program, and evidence from this case was resubmitted for advanced DNA testing and genealogy research through Bode Technology.
Maryland Gets $1.3 M to Reduce DNA Backlog (Forensic – 6/3/26)
U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen and Angela Alsobrooks and U.S. Representatives Steny Hoyer, Kweisi Mfume, Jamie Raskin, Glenn Ivey, Sarah Elfreth, April McClain Delaney, and Johnny Olszewski (all D-Md.) announced $1,322,514 in federal funding to help relieve backlogs of forensic biology and DNA testing impacting Maryland crime labs and local police departments. The funding will help these departments address staffing shortages, provide training, and purchase equipment to increase DNA processing capacity.
“Backlogs in DNA processing can create roadblocks to solving many violent and non-violent crimes. This federal investment will equip local jurisdictions with the tools and resources to process evidence more efficiently and deliver accurate, timely results for the good of Maryland communities,” said the lawmakers.