Familial Searching

Allaying Concerns

The investigation in the “Grim Sleeper” case reveals just how powerful a familial search investigative lead can be, and how focused the ensuing investigation was. The familial search and Y-STR results were strongly suggestive that the close relative was either the father or the son of the candidate offender. Because of the candidate offender’s age and the dates of the earliest offense in the series, attention focused on the candidate’s father. The father lived in the area of most of the murders. Surveillance was conducted, and abandoned DNA samples were collected covertly from the father. The samples were typed and found to match the evidence profiles from the murders. No innocent family members were contacted, interviewed, harassed or suspected.