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!
Skeletons of Evidence: the Forensic Specialists Uncovering the Truth AFP – 9/12/2025)
One bone at a time, the AFP’s Forensic Anthropology and Archaeology (FAA) capabilities are uncovering the secrets behind human remains and crimes and stories that would otherwise stay buried.
Established in 2019, the team provide national and international forensic assistance to police by conducting excavations of clandestine burials and making anthropological assessments of skeletal remains using forensic osteology and cranio-facial reconstruction.
The team often provide support to police investigations involving long-term missing persons, deploying into the field to assist with human or non-human assessments of skeletal remains.
Assessments can be done in the field, by analysing images, or examining bones in a laboratory.
Historic Camden and FHD Forensics Partner to Form Rev War Forensic Institute, Roll Out Early Findings (Rev War Forensic Institute – 9/12/2025)
Historic Camden Foundation and FHD Forensics today announced a groundbreaking partnership aimed at identifying America’s first unknown Revolutionary War combatants. The Rev War Forensic Institute of the Historic Camden Foundation was inspired by the forensic genealogical investigation of the Camden Fourteen, men who were killed in action at the Battle of Camden in 1780.
“The 2022/2023 efforts to recover and re-inter these individuals was just the beginning of honoring their sacrifices,” commented Southwick “Cary” Briggs, executive director, Historic Camden Foundation. “The ultimate honor is the ability to thank the unknowns by name and fill in the missing pieces of a modern-day family tree, which is what the institute is working to do.”
FHD Forensics president Allison Peacock serves as the institute’s executive director. “Nowhere in the world has a group come together to research, document, and name America’s oldest fallen,” noted Peacock. “We are not only announcing our formal establishment as an organization, but we’re also sharing what we’ve learned to date about the first two of the fourteen men from the Battle of Camden. Learning more about them is a mystery 244 years in the making.”
Santa Cruz, California-based ancient DNA experts, Astrea Forensics performed DNA extractions from bone fragments and completed whole-genome sequencing to create the profiles. “Two hundred year old remains are young when compared to samples we often work with,” said Astrea’s lab director, Cristina Verdugo, Ph.D. “However, these are the oldest samples Astrea Forensics has produced genealogy profiles for and they are much older than most forensics cases.”
After loading their profiles into public databases, FHD Forensics began the process of searching for matches with living individuals and creating a family tree that spans more than two centuries. “Our team is tracing seven to nine generations for each match,” noted Peacock. “We believe that the genetic distance between these men and their living descendants has never been attempted before in a John Doe investigation.”
Preliminary profiles on the first two Camden subjects were released this summer and research continues.
Camden Subject 9B is a fourteen- to eighteen-year-old boy from Annapolis, Maryland. His closest relatives have the surnames Beall, Browne, Cheney, Davidge, Griffith, Pumphrey, Ridgley, Stewart, Wade, Warfield, Welsh, and Westall – all prominent Anne Arundel County, Maryland founding families.
Camden Subject 11A is believed to be of early Jamestown Colony descent, with one parent from an early 18th century Ulster Scot or Irish immigrant family. Ancestral surnames in common with his genetic matches are Alexander, Beam, Birchfield, Boone, Bray, Cannady/Kennedy, Coleman, Embry, Hitchcock, Kash, McComb, Nickell, Owen, Poage, Scott, Soward/Seward, Taulbee/Tolbey, Waters, and Wilson.
Research for this subject has already revealed an inaccurate report that one Virginia artilleryman did not die at Camden as reported by multiple sources, including the Library of Virginia.
Researchers are currently seeking male DNA test subjects with the following colonial Anne Arundel County, Maryland surnames: Pumphrey, Davidge, Griffith, Ridgley, and Warfield.
Male test subjects with the colonial Virginia surnames Bray, Nickell, Owen, Soward/Seward, and Taulbee are also sought.
“These combatants protected one thing, and that was the thought of liberty,” noted Briggs. ”We look forward to sharing the unique DNA stories of the Camden combatants and their families in a dedicated space being developed on the Historic Camden campus.”
Those interested in joining the study or contributing DNA are encouraged to visit RevWarForensicInstitute.org/Join and complete an intake form.
‘Bone Lady’ Who Helped Find Daniel Morcombe Still Unearthing Stories of the Dead (ABC.net – 9/13/2025)
A qualified forensic anthropologist, Senior Sergeant Donna MacGregor was lecturing at university and working part-time with the Queensland Police Service (QPS) in 2013 when she was asked to help identify the roadside remains.
Known as the “bone lady”, she has been investigating ways the dead can tell their tales for almost three decades, helping solve some of the state’s most high-profile crimes.
Brazilian Musician Identified as Victim of 1976 Killing by Argentina Military (The Guardian – 9/05/2025)
Early on 18 March 1976, Francisco Tenório Cerqueira Júnior, a Brazilian pianist who had played alongside some of Latin America’s greatest musicians, disappeared from the streets of Buenos Aires.
For nearly 50 years, his fate has remained a mystery, sparking desperate searches, raising suspicions of government complicity, and inspiring international documentaries. Now the mystery has been solved, with forensic scientists formally identifying Tenório Júnior’s body – and confirming he was a victim of Argentina’s bloody dictatorship.
Latest Version of Groundbreaking Forensic Software Released Today (STRmix™ – 9/15/2025)
STRmix™ v2.13, the latest version of the groundbreaking forensic software used to resolve mixed DNA profiles previously considered too complex to interpret, has been released.
Since its introduction in 2012, STRmix™ has proven to be a highly effective tool in producing usable, interpretable, and admissible DNA results in more than 690,000 criminal cases worldwide. It has been particularly effective in helping to resolve violent crime and sexual assault cases, as well as cold cases in which evidence was originally dismissed as inconclusive.
Like its predecessors in the rich history of STRmix™ development, v2.13 builds on previous versions of STRmix™, while adding several significant new features. Unlike previous versions of the software, STRmix™ v2.13 enables forensic laboratories to set up multiple PDF report templates for the different report types in the software and choose to automatically generate more than one report at a time for a given calculation.
In addition, forensic analysts who would prefer to set up a specific username for PDF reports will be able to link their computer login name or ID with a full name to print to the reports.
STRmix™ v2.13 also includes new functionality in the Batch Maker module which allows analysts to set up replicate inputs for interpretations. This will link to the upcoming version of FaSTR™ DNA, enabling labs to set up and export replicate inputs directly to Batch Maker. FaSTR™ DNA seamlessly integrates with STRmix™ and rapidly analyzes raw DNA data generated by capillary electrophoresis (CE) instruments and standard STR DNA profiling kits and assigns a number of contributors (NoC) estimate.
The latest version of STRmix™ expands the Visualize Evidence function first introduced in STRmix™ v2.12 to ignore any peak in the electropherogram representation of the evidence input file. This will be useful, for example, when a known artifact has been retained during CE data analysis as it will allow this peak to be manually ignored during the interpretation set-up. Ignoring a peak during interpretation set-up will result in a comment being written to the PDF report to show that the peak was ignored by the user.
“The new enhancements incorporated into STRmix™ v2.13 are in direct response to recommendations made by forensic labs to better address on-the-job needs they regularly encounter,” explains STRmix team Senior Science Leader Dr. Jo-Anne Bright. “STRmix doesn’t just develop software though. We support our users’ success each step of the way by delivering comprehensive, fit-for-purpose training and ongoing support from validation to admissibility.”
STRmix™ is currently being used for DNA analysis in 96 federal, state, local, and private organizations in the U.S. and 21 forensic laboratories internationally, including labs in Canada, the United Kingdom, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, the Caribbean, and all nine state and territory forensic labs in New Zealand and Australia. The latest version of STRmix™ comes after nearly a year of technical development and testing.
Unlike previous methods of DNA analysis, which depended entirely on the application of fixed stochastic thresholds and other biological parameters to manually analyze DNA samples, STRmix™ calculates the probability of observed DNA evidence by assuming the DNA originated from either a person of interest or an unknown donor. These two probabilities are then presented as a likelihood ratio (LR) which infers the value of the findings and the level of support for one proposition over the other.
The team behind STRmix™ has also developed three related software applications:
• DBLR™, an application which when used with STRmix™ allows forensic laboratories to undertake extensive kinship analysis, carry out rapid database searches, visualize the value of their DNA mixture evidence, and carry out mixture-to-mixture matches;
• FaSTR™ DNA, expert forensic software which seamlessly integrates with STRmix™ (when in use) to rapidly analyze raw DNA data generated by genetic analyzers and standard profiling kits and assigns a number of contributors (NoC) estimate; and
• STRmix™ NGS, fully continuous mixture interpretation and likelihood ratio generation software for profiles generated using Next Generation Sequencing (NGS).In combination with STRmix™, FaSTR™ DNA and DBLR™ complete the full workflow from analysis to interpretation and database matching, while STRmix™ NGS broadens the range of profile types that can be interpreted.
Genealogy IDs 1971 Jane Doe, Reunites 2 Surviving Children (Forensic – 9/15/2025)
Police in one of the most affluent counties in Maryland have not only solved the department’s oldest cold case homicide, but also reunited the victim’s surviving adult children who were unaware of what had happened to their mother and each other. The victim was born and lived most of her life in Pennsylvania as Sadie Belle Murray, but went by Sarah Belle Sharkey at the time of her death in Maryland.
Sexual Assault Kit Testing Leads to Suspect in 4 Unsolved Rapes (Forensic – 9/15/2025)
The Ventura County District Attorney’s Office and the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office announced that forensic work conducted as part of the Ventura County Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (VCSAKI) has led to the indictment of a suspect in four previously unsolved sexual assault cases in Phoenix, Arizona.
The defendant, Abraham Ramirez (DOB 08/19/70), was indicted in Maricopa County Superior Court on 11 counts of sexual assault and kidnapping.
The case traces back to 1994, when Ventura County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a report of a woman who escaped Ramirez after being sexually assaulted. A sexual assault kit was collected at that time, but the case was later dismissed due to insufficient evidence.
Police Exhume Remains of 1985 John Doe for Genetic Genealogy Analysis (Forensic – 9/15/2025)
On June 9, 1985, a family walking their dog smelled something horrible and went to investigate. That is when they discovered a man’s badly decomposed body behind a Howard Johnson Motor Lodge in St. Joseph, Indiana. It was determined the man had been shot to death, and his identify was never confirmed.
Today, Sep. 15, 2025, St. Joseph County Police, the Coroner’s Office, and other agencies will exhume the remains of this man—known only as the “Howard Johnson John Doe”—from Tutt Cemetery in an attempt to give him his name back.
“This is something that honestly hasn’t been done a lot,” said Detective Allan Barnes of the St. Joseph County Police. “We will gather evidence from the bones and we will send it down it for genealogy analysis.”
The John Doe is described as a white male between the ages of 20 and30 years old, between 5’9 and 6’1, and is believed to be between 150 and 175 pounds with longer brown hair and a mustache.
Philippine’s Forensic Dentist Turns to Teeth for Disaster Victim Identification (Forensic – 9/15/2025)
It was early morning after Christmas in 2004 when a magnitude 9.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. Waves up to 30 feet (9 meters) tall ripped through the Indian Ocean, causing massive devastation in their wake.
In Thailand, the ensuing tsunami created what many call the largest disaster victim identification in history. Forensic experts from over 30 countries rushed to the beaches to identify almost 4,000 dead bodies and countless missing.
One might think that DNA, the gold standard in human identification, was responsible for identifying most of the bodies. “But actually, it was not,” said Dr. Ernest Joie Guzman. A forensic dentist and University of the Philippines Manila graduate, Guzman confirmed that around 54% of the bodies were identified relatively quickly using dental information, and not DNA.
Despite its power, using DNA to identify all bodies is expensive and can be prohibitively complex. In contrast, experts found that as long as the head of a body is kept, it typically retains some sort of dental structure that experts can use for identification.
Due to this, Guzman believes that forensic odontology should be tightly integrated in Philippine disaster or criminal investigations, especially when the goal is identifying victims and returning them to loved ones. But the field, like forensics as a whole in this country, is still in its challenging early phase. Are we ready to make the tough decisions to help it grow?
In Ukraine, the Agonizing Effort to Identify the War Dead Overwhelms Forensic Workers (CBC – 9/15/2025)
Across the country, morgues are overburdened and forensic investigators are working around the clock to identify the growing number of dead — and in some cases release them for burial even before their identities are confirmed.
In the more than three and a half years since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, there has been very little information released by Kyiv or Moscow about the number of soldiers killed.
Independent Russian media have compiled a list showing that at least 130,000 Russian soldiers have been killed, but they estimate that the true number is nearly double that.
DPS Honors Crime Laboratory During National Forensic Science Week (Texas Department of Public Safety – 9/15/2025)
During National Forensic Science Week, the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) is proud to recognize the hardworking men and women of the Crime Laboratory Division.
Established in 1937, the Crime Laboratory Division started as a one-chemist operation located at Camp Mabry in Austin. Almost 90 years later, the Crime Laboratory Division has developed into a comprehensive forensic laboratory system with 16 accredited labs and programs spanning the state and approximately 711 personnel.
“The men and women of the Crime Laboratory Division work tirelessly behind the scenes to provide answers, support justice and ultimately protect and serve the people of Texas every day,” said Crime Laboratory Chief Brady Mills. “Their work is vital to the operations of law enforcement agencies across this state, and we are proud to be able to assist our partners in this way.”
Charlie Kirk Murder Suspect Linked to Crime Scene Evidence Through DNA Match, FBI Director Says (NBC News – 9/15/2025)
The man accused of fatally shooting conservative influencer Charlie Kirk at a Utah university last week has been linked to evidence found at the scene through DNA sequencing, FBI Director Kash Patel said Monday.
Tyler Robinson, a 22-year-old from Utah, was arrested and is expected to be charged with aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury, and obstruction of justice in connection with the shooting last Wednesday at Utah Valley University.
Celebrating National Forensic Science Week 2025 (Forensic- 9/17/2025)
This week, starting on Sunday, is National Forensic Science Week, an annual observance to recognize and celebrate the contributions of forensic science professionals. This week-long event serves as an opportunity to raise public awareness about the vital role forensic science plays in the criminal justice system, from exonerating the innocent to identifying the guilty.
Laboratories across the country take this opportunity to recognize forensic professionals, showcase technology, collaborate and network, promote forensic science as a career, and advocate for evidence-based policies and practices.
Let’s take a look at what different organizations are doing to celebrate their hard-working forensic professionals during this special week.
Genealogy Identifies Skeletal Remains Found in 1976 (Forensic – 9/17/2025)
On July 24, 1976, skeletal remains of a young woman were found in the area of Wolf Creek near Swamp Mountain in Linn County. For 49 years, her identity was not known. Today, thanks to advances in forensic genetic genealogy, she has a name. In June of this year, the remains were positively identified as Marion Vinetta Nagle McWhorter. McWhorter had last been seen at a Tigard shopping mall in 1974. She was just 21 years old at the time and was never heard from again.
In 1976, a moss hunter initially found a skull with several teeth and notified local law enforcement immediately. The Linn County Sheriff’s Office accompanied the moss hunter back to the site and recovered additional skeletal remains. Along with the remains, investigators located a clog-style shoe, a fraying fringed leather coat, a leather belt with Native American-style beadwork, two metal rings, and a pair of degraded Levi’s jeans, which were retained as evidence.
Millions of DNA Experiments Could Become Searchable through This Researcher’s Tools (Northeastern Global News – 9/17/2025)
The National Institutes of Health’s Sequence Read Archive, one of the world’s largest public repositories of genomic data, contained more than 36 petabytes of raw sequencing data in 2020. That’s 36 million gigabytes, or nearly 480 years of continuous HD video playback.
“The amount of data in the Sequence Read Archive has actually blown up by an order of magnitude compared to what it was supposed to be originally,” says Prashant Pandey, assistant professor of computer science at Northeastern University.
Pandey, who was recently awarded an NIH grant, is working to solve this problem. His goal is to build scalable systems and techniques that allow scientists in wet labs and hospitals to search the Sequence Read Archive efficiently, accelerating discoveries in biology and medicine.
Montreal Police Resolve Cold Case from 2008 Using Genetic Genealogy to ID Killer (North Shore News – 9/17/2025)
A long-standing cold case was cracked using genetic genealogy to identify the man who killed a Montreal woman in her apartment in 2008, police said Wednesday.
Catherine Daviau, 26, was killed in her Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie apartment in December 2008. Investigators had not identified a suspect in her brazen murder under recently, naming Jacques Bolduc as the man who killed Daviau.
Bolduc died of natural causes in 2021 at the Archambault Institution, where he was serving time for two robberies and two attempted murders. But it was diligent scientific work that ultimately linked him to the homicide.
“The resolution is entirely thanks to genetic genealogy, which pointed us to that name, and it never came up in the investigation at any time,” Cmdr. Mélanie Dupont, head of the Montreal police major crimes unit, told a news conference.