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Suspects identified through genetic genealogy

4 cases

Cases where investigators traced DNA through distant relatives to name a suspect. Some have ended in convictions; in others, charges were later dropped.

Faith Danielle Hedgepeth

A 19-year-old University of North Carolina student, found dead in her Chapel Hill apartment in 2012. Genetic genealogy later identified a suspect, who was convicted of her murder in October 2026.

Newspaper clippings from the record: University of Idaho murders, Faith Hedgepeth, Audrey Hoellein
  • University of Idaho murders

    Four University of Idaho students were killed in their off-campus home in Moscow, Idaho, in November 2022. Genetic genealogy helped lead investigators to a suspect, who later pleaded guilty.

  • Marise Chiverella

    Marise Ann Chiverella, 9, was abducted on her way to school in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, in 1964. DNA on her jacket and genetic genealogy identified her killer in 2022, 42 years after he had died.

  • Audrey Hoellein

    Killed in her Vancouver, Washington, apartment in 1994; DNA evidence led police to a suspect in 2019, but the charges were dismissed in 2022.

Supporting the work

Help identify the unnamed

Many of the cases in this collection were solved with genetic genealogy. The lab work behind each one can cost thousands of dollars, and many agencies can't afford it. These nonprofits help pay for that work on cold cases and for people who have never been identified.

  • DNA Doe Project

    Pays for the lab work and volunteer genealogy that give Jane and John Does their names back. You can give generally or to a specific case.

  • Season of Justice

    Gives grants to police agencies and families for advanced DNA testing in unsolved violent crimes.

  • Moxxy Forensic Investigations

    Covers lab and database costs and genealogy research for unidentified people and unsolved cases in the US and Canada.

  • DNA Justice

    Runs a nonprofit DNA database that police can search for free. Donations keep it running.

All four are US-registered nonprofits. Matter of Record has no connection to them and receives nothing from these links.