Forensic Genetic Genealogy Project version December 2023

This research seeks to collect all publicly available information concerning cases that were successfully cleared through forensic investigative genetic genealogy (FIGG), going back as far as possible in time and ending on December 31, 2023.

Cases were selected for inclusion in the dataset through internet searches, discussion boards related to genetic genealogy, missing persons, and cold cases, as well as press releases and blog posts from private companies and non-profit organizations known to perform FIGG, publications devoted to advances in forensic science, and published court records.

Cases were chosen for inclusion in the sample only if a public authority had confirmed that FIGG was used to clear the investigation, and the investigation met the following definition of FIGG:

1. Investigative Body: The investigation was led by a public, and not a private, authority, such as a law enforcement agency or a coroner/medical examiner’s office.

2. Investigative Techniques: The investigation must use the techniques of genomics, computer database technologies, and traditional genealogy. Cases were included when family lineages were drawn out to at least three or more generations. The sample includes investigations that use Y-chromosome STR profiles and/or mitochondrial DNA profiles to trace the paternal and maternal lineages of persons of interest. Cases solved through familial searching of law enforcement databases were excluded from the sample, as this technique raises separate legal and ethical issues.

3. Investigative Purpose: The investigation must be for a forensic purpose, meaning that the evidence thus produced is relevant to an ongoing legal dispute. Most cases considered here are for the identification of perpetrators of criminal offences or the identification of decedents but can also include the identification of living does. Not included in this data are cases that are of purely historical interest, or the identification of unknown soldiers by military authorities. The term ‘forensic genetic genealogy’ has been chosen for this project in preference to the broader, and more generic term ‘investigative genetic genealogy’, which has also been used, to highlight the fact that these investigations are directed towards an ongoing legal dispute before the public legal system.

4. Causation: This database only includes cases that have been successfully cleared using FIGG. The resolution of any investigation – particularly very large and lengthy investigations as were many of the cases described in this data – has many causes. To be included here, the FIGG investigation must have played a significant causal role in the resolution of the case.

More complete information about how the data was coded, as well as an annotated bibliography and a short digest of each case, can be found in the Code Book below. You may read a short digest of each case cleared, including references for all data collected, in the Case Digests.

本研究旨在搜集所有公开可获取的关于通过法医调查基因家谱（Forensic Investigative Genetic Genealogy，简称FIGG）成功解决案件的信息，时间追溯至尽可能久远，并截止至2023年12月31日。

数据集中的案例通过互联网搜索、与基因家谱、失踪人口和冷案相关的讨论论坛，以及已知执行FIGG的私营公司和非营利组织的新闻稿和博客文章进行选取。此外，还包括致力于法医科学进步的出版物和已发布的法庭记录。

只有当公共机构确认使用FIGG解决了调查，且调查符合以下FIGG定义时，才会将案例纳入样本中：

1. 调查主体：调查由公共机构而非私人机构领导，例如执法机构或法医官/医疗检查官办公室。

2. 调查技术：调查必须使用基因组学、计算机数据库技术和传统家谱技术。当家谱追溯至三代或更多代时，案例才会被纳入样本。样本包括使用Y染色体STR分析谱和/或线粒体DNA分析谱追踪嫌疑人父系和母系家谱的调查。由于此技术涉及独立的法律和伦理问题，因此通过执法数据库的家庭搜索解决的案例被排除在外。

3. 调查目的：调查必须具有法医目的，即产生的证据与正在进行中的法律纠纷相关。此处考虑的大多数案例是用于识别犯罪行为的实施者或识别死者，但也可能包括识别在世者。纯粹具有历史意义的案例或军事当局识别未知士兵的案例不包括在内。本项目选择使用‘法医基因家谱’这一术语，而非更为广泛和通用的‘调查基因家谱’术语，以强调这些调查旨在指向公共法律系统面前的持续法律纠纷。

4. 因果关系：此数据库仅包括成功使用FIGG解决的案例。任何调查的解决——特别是像本数据中描述的许多案例那样的大型和长期调查——有多个原因。要被纳入此处，FIGG调查必须在解决案件过程中发挥显著的因果关系。

更多关于数据编码的详细信息、注释文献综述以及每个案例的简要摘要，可在以下代码簿中找到。您可以在案例摘要中阅读每个解决案例的简要摘要，包括收集的所有数据的参考文献。