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!
Battling Investigator Burnout in the Age of Infinite Digital Evidence (Forensic – 3/09/2026)
Digital evidence is now central to nearly every criminal case, with smartphones appearing in 97% of investigations. For investigators, that shifts the way cases are managed, adding vast volumes of data and higher workloads if current investigative methods don’t evolve.
While expanding digital evidence can accelerate investigations, it’s creating an overload for investigators and digital forensics teams, who are spending more than 20 hours per case reviewing digital evidence, with many of these investigators juggling 6-10 cases simultaneously on average.
High caseloads risk burning out investigators, and the impact stretches far wider, jeopardizing justice outcomes and public trust due to tired decisions and missed connections between cases. Burnout isn’t only a wellness issue, it’s an operational and justice delivery problem.
The rising volume of digital evidence is only an issue if technology infrastructure and organizational structure allow it to impact investigators. Technology and culture sit at the heart of managing growing caseloads and adapting to modern digital forensics, helping to not only improve wellbeing but also improve overall justice outcomes.
Genealogy Identifies Homicide Victim Found Year after Death (Forensic – 3/09/2026)
In November 2011, skeletal remains were discovered in a remote area of Grant County, Washington. Deputies with the Grant County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene and began an investigation. Forensic examination determined the remains belonged to an adult male, likely between 25 and 45 years old, who stood approximately 5’7” tall. Investigators noted distinctive dental work, including open-faced crowns on his front incisor, and layered winter clothing, including long-sleeve shirts, jackets, and pants. The man had died from a gunshot wound in the year prior to the discovery of his remains.
An STR DNA profile was developed and entered into CODIS for comparison against known offenders and missing persons. No matches were returned. With no investigative leads, the man became known as Grant County John Doe. Case details were uploaded to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) as UP9986, ensuring the information remained accessible to investigators and the public.
Recently, the Grant County Sheriff’s Office and the King County Medical Examiner’s Office submitted forensic evidence to 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.
In 2025, in partnership with the King County Medical Examiner’s Office, the Sheriff’s Office sought advanced forensic DNA testing to help resolve the case. Evidence was submitted to Othram, a forensic laboratory based in The Woodlands, Texas. Othram scientists successfully developed a DNA extract from the skeletal remains and applied Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing to generate a comprehensive DNA profile suitable for advanced analysis.
During the course of the investigation, investigators identified a potential relative of the man. A reference DNA sample was collected from a relative and compared to the DNA profile of the unidentified man using Othram’s KinSNP rapid relationship testing. Grant County John Doe (2011) is now known to be 39-year-old Jorgé Palayo-Rodriguez of Othello, Washington.
Indian Affairs Finds Two Sets of Remains in Investigation of 2013 Disappearance (Forensic – 3/09/2026)
The Bureau of Indian Affairs Missing and Murdered Unit and the Chickasaw Lighthorse Police Department, working alongside federal and state partners, conducted a large-scale search operation this week in southern Oklahoma as part of the ongoing investigation into the 2013 disappearance of Molly Miller and Colt Haynes.
The search began Feb. 17 and covered more than 1,000 acres in Love County, Oklahoma. On Feb. 18, search teams operating in an area between Oswalt Road, Pike Road and Long Hollow Road discovered two sets of human remains. The remains were collected by the FBI Evidence Response Team and the Oklahoma Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for forensic examination and identification.
The identities of the remains are unknown, and it has not been determined whether they are connected to the disappearance of Miller, a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation, and Haynes. Officials said identifying the remains and determining the cause and manner of death will require a thorough forensic process.
The search area had not been previously examined. Investigators said earlier search locations were based on information and evidence available at the time. As new details emerged and landowner cooperation was obtained, search parameters were expanded, leading to operations in the newly identified area.
The operation involved multiple other agencies, including Chickasaw Nation Emergency Management, the FBI, Oklahoma Department of Corrections, Oklahoma Highway Patrol, the Oklahoma Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and Texas Search and Rescue.
New Animal Hair Forensics Research Group Launched to Help Combat Wildlife Crime (Forensic – 3/09/2026)
University of Staffordshire students went on a “once-in-a-lifetime” trip to learn about the role of forensics in combating wildlife crime. During the trip, the university even teamed up with local enforcement to launch a new research group focused on animal hair forensics.
Thirteen forensic science students traveled to the Wildlife Forensic Academy (WFA) in South Africa, where they received specialized training in wildlife forensics to address crimes such as poaching and illegal animal trading.
Through lectures, practical sessions and field trips, the group learned about the current global scale of wildlife crime and how to manage, document and recover evidence from crime scenes. Several students also had the opportunity to work on a real case with the WFA’s Greg Simpson and university lecturer Professor Claire Gwinnett.
University of Staffordshire’s Professor Claire Gwinnett helped to establish the WFA’s training courses in South Africa, helping the team to design the curriculum and incorporate cutting edge forensic techniques.
Knoxville Homicide Victim Identified After More Than Three Decades (TBI Newsroom – 3/09/2026)
A man whose remains were discovered in Knoxville in 1988 has now been identified through a partnership between the Knoxville Police Department, the Knox County Regional Forensic Center, and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s Unidentified Human Remains Initiative.
On August 30, 1988, railway workers repairing a section of track discovered the body of a man in the Coster Rail Yard area of Knoxville. Forensic anthropologists determined the remains belonged to a white male likely between the ages of 21 and 30. His death was ruled a homicide.
Investigators with the Knoxville Police Department and the Knox County Regional Forensic Center worked to identify the victim using the technology available at the time. After exhausting all leads, they were unable to determine his identity, and the victim was classified as a John Doe.
Efforts to identify the Knoxville John Doe continued in the years that followed. The University of Tennessee Forensic Anthropology Center later submitted a sample of the remains to the University of Texas Center for Human Identification. A DNA profile was developed and entered into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) and the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) in hopes that the man could eventually be identified. However, no matches were made.
In May 2023, as part of the TBI Unidentified Human Remains DNA Initiative, TBI agents assisted the Knoxville Police Department and the Knox County Regional Forensic Center by submitting a sample of the remains to Othram, a private lab based in Texas, for forensic genealogical (FGG) DNA testing.
Scientists were able to identify possible relatives connected to the man. Last month, agents and detectives contacted one of the potential family members and obtained a familial DNA sample. That sample was submitted to Othram for comparison with the DNA from the unidentified remains.
Based on DNA testing and forensic genealogy results, scientists confirmed the remains belonged to James Robert Benson (DOB: 09/11/1965), originally from the Knoxville area. Benson was last seen near the end of March 1988.
Young Woman Known as ‘Becca Doe’ Identified After 35 Years Thanks to N.J. College’s Genetics Research (NJ.com – 3/08/2026)
The Investigative Genetic Genealogy Center at Ramapo College of New Jersey has helped law enforcement solve another cold case.
In June 1991, the body of an 18-year-old woman was found in a motel room in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Her death was ruled a suicide, but investigators were unable to identify her.
On Wednesday, the woman was positively identified as Becca Mallekoote, the Albuquerque Police Department said in a statement. Mallekoote was born in Tacoma, Washington, on March 4, 1973. She was identified this week through DNA from a close relative on what would have been her 53rd birthday.
Paragould Police Department Teams with Othram to Identify the Suspect in a 2023 Sexual Assault of Child (DNASolves – 3/10/2026)
In 2023, an investigation was initiated after authorities received a report that a young child had been sexually assaulted in Paragould, Arkansas. Detectives immediately launched an investigation and collected forensic evidence as part of the case. Early in the investigation, forensic scientists were able to develop a traditional short tandem repeat (STR) profile from the crime scene evidence. The profile was submitted to the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), the national law enforcement DNA database used to compare crime scene DNA against known offender profiles. However, the search did not produce a match to a known individual, leaving investigators without an identified suspect.
Despite the lack of a CODIS hit, investigators continued working the case and preserved the forensic evidence in hopes that future advances in technology could help identify the perpetrator. As the investigation progressed, detectives sought additional forensic analysis to try to generate new leads.
In 2025, Paragould Police Department sent several pieces of forensic evidence to be evaluated for advanced testing by Othram. Many of the items contained DNA mixtures that made typical analysis challenging. Othram scientists reviewed the evidence and advised investigators on which samples were most suitable for advanced DNA sequencing-based analysis. Those items were submitted to Othram’s laboratory in The Woodlands, Texas later that year in May.
At the laboratory, Othram scientists applied Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing® to develop a comprehensive DNA profile for the unknown male contributor identified in the forensic evidence. The resulting DNA profile was then analyzed by Othram’s in-house forensic genetic genealogy team. The team conducted database searches and genealogical analysis that generated new investigative leads. These leads were provided to investigators with the Paragould Police Department.
Investigators used the genealogical information to narrow in on potential individuals connected to the DNA evidence. Follow-up investigative work ultimately led detectives to identify Steven Bearden as a suspect in the case. After identifying Bearden as a potential contributor to the DNA evidence, investigators obtained a reference DNA sample from him. When compared to the forensic evidence collected during the investigation, the DNA matched the unknown male profile developed from the original crime scene evidence.
Based on the DNA evidence and the results of the investigation, Steven Bearden was arrested and charged in connection with the sexual assault of the child. The arrest represents a major step forward in the case and demonstrates how modern forensic DNA technology can help investigators identify suspects even when initial investigative leads are lacking.
AI Techniques Speed Up Forensic Analysis of Crucial Crime Scene Larvae (Scientific American – 3/10/2026)
A mass of writhing maggots on a decomposing murder victim is not a sight for the squeamish, but for some, it is evidence. A maggot’s age and species can give essential information to forensic entomologists investigating murders. (A single wriggling horse fly maggot, for instance, found on a dead body far from water, gave entomologists in 2022 a key lead to where the body came from.) Combing through these fly larvae, investigators can potentially learn when and where a crime happened, whether the body has been moved or whether toxins were involved.
For example, blowflies are among the earliest insect colonizers of corpses; they typically sniff out and lay eggs on a dead body within minutes to hours. How fast the maggots (also called larvae) develop depends on heat, humidity, and the insect’s species and sex. To use this evidence, investigators typically must grow the larvae until adulthood in a laboratory setting and then identify them, either visually or by genetic sequence. But what if the larvae are dead or missing, there’s no high-quality DNA or there isn’t the time—or equipment—to sequence the flies’ genomes? “People in a crime lab simply do not have the resident expertise or the resources to be able to routinely conduct DNA analysis on insect evidence,” says Rabi Musah, a bioorganic chemist at Louisiana State University.
To tackle these challenges, Musah and other researchers have combined machine-learning algorithms with methods such as infrared spectroscopy and chemical profiling to quickly pinpoint maggots’ species and sex. Such tools could help experts rapidly identify the maggots without the larvae’s DNA or without the larvae altogether, only what they leave behind—saving time and money usually spent in sequencing. They could also help investigators take measurements at the scene of the crime itself to determine larval sex.
Missing in Nevada Day Event Extends University Partnership with Coroner’s Office (Forensic – 3/11/2026)
Few experiences are more heart-wrenching than a family member, friend, or loved one going missing. The waiting and wondering, the not knowing, the sense of grief and loss, and lack of closure.
With more than 300 unidentified people from Nevada registered in the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs), many families may never learn the fate of their loved ones.
Thanks to a partnership between UNLV’s Department of Anthropology and the Clark County Office of the Coroner/Medical Examiner, an annual event called Missing in Nevada Day aims to change those outcomes.
The event brings together families with multiple community and law enforcement agencies, forensics professionals, and nonprofits. Services include filing missing persons reports, collecting familial DNA reference samples, running searches in missing persons databases, reviewing forensic artist sketches, and in the best-case scenario, reuniting families with loved ones who were missing.
Forensic Anthropologists Identify 12 Bodies Found in Dictatorship Detention Center (Buenos Aires Herald – 3/11/2026)
The Argentine Team of Forensic Anthropology (EAAF, for its Spanish initials) has identified 12 bodies that were found during an excavation at the site where a clandestine detention center known as La Perla operated during the dictatorship in the central province of Córdoba.
The bodies belonged to victims of the military regime who were presumably held at La Perla and remained disappeared until now.
The discovery was reported by Córdoba’s Federal Court n°3 and announced by the EAAF on Tuesday. The NGO said that information about the identity of the victims will be released by the court with the consent of their families after they are notified.
Nassau County Police Department, Nassau County District Attorney’s Office, and the FBI Leverage Othram’s Identity Inference Platform to Identify the Suspect in a 1974 Long Island Murder (DNASolves – 3/11/2026)
On January 11, 1974, Barbara Waldman was found murdered in her Oceanside, New York home. The 31-year-old woman lived with her husband, who was a dentist, and three young children in a Colonial style home in the 3900 block of Sally Lane in Oceanside, a hamlet on Long Island. One of Barbara’s young sons found his mother on the second floor of the family’s home when he got home from kindergarten.
The Nassau County Police Department responded and began investigating the case as a homicide. Barbara Waldman was lying next to her bed wearing a nightgown and bathrobe and her hands were tied behind her back with a pair of pantyhose. She had been shot once in the head. The house had not been ransacked and when detectives questioned neighbors, they had not seen anyone enter the two‐story house. Investigators learned that Waldman, a vibrant woman with long blonde hair, was well-liked in the neighborhood and was active in the Oceanside Cancer Society unit.
A composite sketch for the suspect was created and released to the public during the investigation. Over the years, investigators ruled out several potential suspects, including serial killers. Despite the extensive efforts of investigators, no suspect was identified and the case was cold for decades.
In 2024, investigators teamed with Othram to leverage its identity inference process, which enables investigators to identify individuals from DNA evidence, even when there is no known reference sample to initially compare against. Officials with the Nassau County Police Department, the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office, and the Nassau County Office of the Medical Examiner 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 suspect. Othram scientists worked to develop a DNA extract from the provided evidence, using Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing® to build a comprehensive DNA profile for the suspect. This DNA profile was delivered to the FBI’s forensic genetic genealogy team, allowing them to generate new investigative leads in the case.
Investigators have now identified Thomas Generazio as the person responsible for Barbara Waldman’s murder. Generazio lived a few blocks away from the Waldman home and worked as a sanitation worker man. He died in 2004.