RICHMOND, Va. — Two recent cold cases in Hampton Roads were cracked open by DNA evidence.
“It could be clothing, it could be weapons, it could be swabs, like a Q-tip, it could be a rape kit that’s collected at the hospital," said Brad Jenkins, the head of Forensic Biology at the Virginia Department of Forensic Science.
Jenkins explained to News 3 how they process DNA.
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Two cold cases solved more than 30 years later
“We can take a very small sample like half the size of a pencil eraser or smaller and take a cutting from that, and then make enough copies of that that we can detect or make a DNA profile,” said Jenkins.
Making copies — and how small the sample can be —are advancements in technology in recent years, making it possible to solve cold cases even decades later.
“It’s a very important part of modern-day crime fighting if you will,” said Jenkins.
Watch related story: 2 active Hampton, Isle of Wight cold cases solved after more than 30 years
He explained once they have a DNA profile, they can run it against a reference sample like a swab an officer got during an investigation, or they can run it against state and national databases.
At the state level, there are 500,000 samples; at the national level, there are 22 million.
“It can be a very important piece of solving cases and promoting public safety and giving the victims some closure," said Jenkins. "The flip side of DNA testing is that you can eliminate someone who has been wrongly pursued, maybe a suspect who they don’t need to be a suspect, or they’ve been wrongly convicted.”
