The search for the Golden State Killer had frustrated law enforcement for decades. The police never had a good lead until this year. It wasn't a new witness or a snitch, but something that they had had for years: the killer's DNA.
A cold case investigator pursued a final gambit. Using an alias, he submitted the killer's DNA to an obscure public data base called GEDmatch, popular with genealogy enthusiasts and good at finding family members. After months of research and investigation, the twisted strands of family DNA led them to the doorstep of one of their own, a retired police officer.
What are the public perceptions of the use of the genetic genealogy to solve crimes? Chris Lu reports.
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