New hope for the lost
Science Center pushes forensics to the forefront
Since it first began testing DNA
samples in 2003, the DNA Identity Laboratory at the University of North Texas Health Science Center has made
93 matches, helping to solve missing-
persons cases and closing criminal cases.
But for the 23 employees at the laboratory, success has hardly become routine.
“We need to do this because there is so much out there that needs to be
identified,” said Rhonda Roby, a forensic biochemist at the laboratory. “We’re
getting more samples every day.”
The center was established by the Texas Legislature in 2001 using grant money from the Crime Victims Compensation Fund. Currently funded primarily from federal grants, the center created and now maintains a database that compares Deoxyribonucleic acid, better known as DNA, from unidentified remains with DNA samples from relatives or personal articles belonging to missing persons. The database contains genetic profiles from three sources: unidentified human remains, family members of missing persons, and missing persons themselves, using biological samples obtained from toothbrushes, hairbrushes or other personal items.
With the creation of the database, the lab became one of three facilities in the country allowed to contribute directly to the National Missing Persons DNA Database, which is part of the FBIÂ’s Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), a network of databases that federal, state and local crime investigators use to compare DNA profiles. To contribute to CODIS, the lab had to be accredited by the National Forensic Science Technology Center. The health center became the first academic institution to earn this accreditation. The only other lab that contributes to CODIS is CaliforniaÂ’s state-run DNA laboratory.
The early success of the Texas database helped the lab expand its mission nationwide. Federal funds became available in 2004 under the PresidentÂ’s DNA Initiative, with the lab receiving grants totaling $1.9 million to solve missing persons cases and identify human remains from across the country.
Because of its federal funding, the lab does not charge for its services, said Stephen Gammon, an administrator for the Missing Persons Database. Testing two bone samples could cost as much as $6,000, an expensive proposition for a small municipality.
“For small towns with a limited budget, that can be a big help,” he said.
Research hub
The UNT Health Science Center lab is not only a testing center but also a hub for research aimed at advancing the DNA testing process. For instance, the lab has installed several robotic stations in the DNA identification process to speed productivity.
The school also uses the laboratory as part of a program for teaching and training future scientists in the field, said Gammon.
“We have 24 students in the two-year master’s program here every year,” he said.
The lab generally makes news when it helps close a case, as it did last year with the case of Marcella Cheri Bachman, a young woman who disappeared in 1984 from Washington state. She had been reported missing then and was added to the missing persons database, but was then withdrawn when some witnesses reported seeing her.
A body found in Missoula, Mont., in 1984 had been listed as a “Jane Doe,” but known locally as “Debbie Deer Creek,” after the location in which she was found. Police there already knew who had killed her: Wayne Nance, a serial killer. A police detective gathered DNA samples from Bachman’s next of kin and sent the results to the University of North Texas lab, which made the match, said Gammon.
“That’s what we’re set up to do, but there are a lot of law enforcement people that don’t understand we have that capability,” he said.
“I still get excited when I make a match,” said Roby. “We’re forging new territory here and that’s exciting.”
Roby has plenty of experience in the relatively new field of DNA forensics. She has worked with a group at the Pentagon to identify the remains of soldiers killed in the Vietnam War, the Korean War and World War II.
“I still remember my first I.D. from a solider from the Vietnam War,” she said. “Nobody can take that moment away from me of what that felt like.”
“It was very satisfying to go to the memorial and see that the cross had been changed to a diamond, meaning their remains had been identified,” she said.
Roby was also part of the team who helped identify the Branch Davidians killed in Waco in 1993, and helped identify Tsar Nicholas II and the Romanov family. She is currently part of a group that is working to identify the remains of Christopher Columbus and also works to help identify victims of the Pinochet regime in Chile.
With such high-profile projects, Roby can appreciate the advances in DNA technology.
“We can now get DNA from very small samples,” she said. “There are a lot of cold cases out there that we need to convince law enforcement to get off the shelf, because we can solve some cases that, just a few years ago, could not be solved.”
There are plenty of missing persons cases left to solve, said Gammon. The labÂ’s director, Arthur Eisenberg, has a phrase to describe the epidemic around the country, he said.
“Art’s phrase is very appropriate – the Silent Disaster – and it’s very true,” said Gammon.
There are 40,000 missing persons in the country today and many of them could be identified, said Roby.
Gammon said that even today there are sections of the country where unidentified remains are buried without taking DNA.
“We’re trying to get legislation passed to prevent that from happening,” said Gammon.
Contact Francis at rfrancis@bizpress.net
