Othram, the leading forensic sequencing laboratory for law enforcement, has announced a joint initiative with the DoeNetwork, a global volunteer organization that advocates for cold cases involving missing and unidentified persons. The collaboration aims to raise awareness, funding, and other resources to help solve cold cases.
The DoeNetwork was first created as a website, in 1999, to catalog missing and unidentified persons cases. Over the years, DoeNetwork evolved into a nationwide volunteer organization. DNASolves, a part of Othram, was created in 2019, and combines crowdfunding, volunteered data, and cutting-edge genomics to solve unresolved cases involving unidentified victims and perpetrators of crime.
As part of the ongoing collaboration, DoeNetwork will feature updates for DNASolves unidentified persons cases that need financial support or general help from the crowd. These updates will be featured on the DoeNetwork Updates page. According to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs), 4,400 unidentified bodies are recovered in the United States annually. These cases accumulate over time creating what the National Institute of Justice calls a “silent mass disaster.” These cases won’t be solved with traditional methods alone. DNASolves and DoeNetwork will work together to educate the public on the power of advanced DNA testing and forensic genetic genealogy, and cross-promote cases being solved with this powerful new approach. This will further the common mission at DNASolves and DoeNetwork of helping reconnect the missing and unidentified to family.
“The DoeNetwork has spent 20 years documenting and advocating for the missing and unidentified. We are excited to partner with Othram and DNASolves so that we can now leverage cutting-edge DNA testing methods to accelerate the identification of unidentified remains,” says Todd Mathews, DoeNetwork Org co-founder.
Republished courtesy of Othram. Photo credit: DNASolves