Credit: DAs Office
The Hampden District Attorney’s Office will conduct forensic investigative genetic genealogy (FIGG) DNA collection on Sunday, Dec. 21 as part of the ongoing investigation into the 1990 homicide of 17-year-old Shana Renee Price.
The outreach effort comes just days before the 35th anniversary of Price’s murder, which occurred on Dec. 26, 1990. Price was 17 years old and the mother of a young son at the time of her death. She was found near the main entrance of Blunt Park in Springfield, and her death was ruled a homicide following an autopsy that determined she had been the victim of a violent assault. While investigators have long had a DNA profile connected to her homicide, no matches have been identified through traditional law enforcement databases. In 2022, a composite sketch was released in hopes of generating new leads. Investigators remain hopeful that continued community participation—combined with advancements in forensic science—will move the investigation forward.
During the event, investigators will be collecting voluntary DNA samples for use in forensic investigative genetic genealogy (FIGG), an advanced investigative technique that combines DNA analysis with genealogical research to help identify potential relatives of an unknown suspect—even when no match exists in CODIS, the national law enforcement DNA database.
Through FIGG, DNA collected from crime-scene evidence can be compared against publicly available genealogy databases to identify distant relatives of unknown suspects, sometimes reaching fourth, fifth, or even sixth cousins. Investigators then use those connections to build family trees, narrow investigative focus, and, in some cases, identify offenders who have eluded justice for decades.
Earlier this year, forensic investigative genetic genealogy helped investigators identify and bring to justice a suspect in a decades-old sexual assault case in Hampden County.
The event on Dec. 21 marks the second FIGG community DNA collection event related to Shana Price’s case, following an initial outreach effort held earlier this year. Investigators continue to pursue all possible leads in hopes of advancing the decades-old investigation and bringing long-awaited answers to her family.
Community members who choose to participate in the DNA collection will not only be assisting investigators but will also receive their own full ancestry and family-tree information free of charge, a service that typically costs up to several hundred dollars.
“Even more than three decades later, we have not forgotten Shana Price or her family,” Hampden District Attorney Anthony D. Gulluni said. “Our office remains committed to using every available investigative tool, including forensic genealogy, to pursue justice on her behalf. Community involvement is critical, and events like this give us another opportunity to move this investigation forward.”
Anyone with information about the homicide of Shana Renee Price is urged to contact the Springfield Police Detective Bureau at 413-787-6355 or Text-A-Tip by texting 2-7-4-6-3-7, typing SOLVE followed by your tip.