CeCe Moore
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CeCe Moore (born January 15, 1969) is an American genetic genealogist who has been described as the country's foremost such entrepreneur. She has appeared as a guest on many TV shows and as a consultant on others such as '' Finding Your Roots''. She has helped law enforcement agencies in identifying suspects in over 50
cold case A cold case is a crime, or a suspected crime, that has not yet been fully resolved and is not the subject of a current criminal investigation, but for which new information could emerge from new witness testimony, re-examined archives, new or r ...
s in one year using DNA and genetic genealogy. In May 2020, she began appearing in a prime time ABC television series called ''
The Genetic Detective ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
'' in which each episode recounts a cold case she helped solve.


Background

Moore was born in 1969 to Anthony Michael Moore (1935–2008) and Janis Proctor. In 2012, she discovered through DNA testing that she is of partial Ashkenazi Jewish heritage. She studied theatre, film, and vocal performance at the
University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...
and appeared in commercials, directed and cast advertising campaigns (with her partner, later her husband, Lennart Martinson), as well as professional musical theatre shows such as ''
The Fantasticks ''The Fantasticks'' is a 1960 musical with music by Harvey Schmidt and book and lyrics by Tom Jones. It tells an allegorical story, loosely based on the 1894 play ''The Romancers'' (''Les Romanesques'') by Edmond Rostand, concerning two neigh ...
'' and ''
West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play '' Romeo and Juliet'', the story is set in the mid ...
''. Moore became interested in DNA genealogy in 2003. In 2009 while she was developing an advertisement for the company
Family Tree DNA FamilyTreeDNA is a division of Gene by Gene, a commercial genetic testing company based in Houston, Texas. FamilyTreeDNA offers analysis of autosomal DNA, Y-DNA, and mitochondrial DNA to individuals for genealogical purpose. With a database of ...
, where people upload their DNA data, she met genealogist Katherine Borges who was Director of
ISOGG The International Society of Genetic Genealogy (ISOGG) is an independent non-commercial nonprofit organization of genetic genealogists run by volunteers. It was founded by a group of surname DNA project administrators in 2005 to promote DNA te ...
. Borges introduced her to rival DNA company
23andMe 23andMe Holding Co. is a publicly held personal genomics and biotechnology company based in South San Francisco, California. It is best known for providing a direct-to-consumer genetic testing service in which customers provide a saliva sample ...
and made Moore a leader of a forum for people who wanted to know more about DNA genealogy. Moore became fascinated by the subject, taught herself about it, passed over her business projects to her husband Martinson and worked full-time on DNA genealogy. In 2012 she approached 23andMe to ask if she could put crime-scene DNA into their DNA databases. 23andMe refused, but later in 2018 she began to use the DNA databases of
GEDmatch GEDmatch is an online service to compare autosomal DNA data files from different testing companies. The website gained significant media coverage in April 2018 after it was used by law enforcement to identify a suspect in the Golden State Kille ...
and
Family Tree DNA FamilyTreeDNA is a division of Gene by Gene, a commercial genetic testing company based in Houston, Texas. FamilyTreeDNA offers analysis of autosomal DNA, Y-DNA, and mitochondrial DNA to individuals for genealogical purpose. With a database of ...
. She has appeared as a guest on TV shows such as '' Finding Your Roots'', '' 20/20'', '' The Doctors'', '' The Dr. Oz Show,'' ''
CBS This Morning ''CBS This Morning'' (''CTM'') is an American morning television program that aired on CBS from November 30, 1987, to October 29, 1999, and again from January 9, 2012, to September 6, 2021. The program was aired from Monday through Saturday. ...
,'' ''
The Today Show ''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'' or informally, ''NBC News Today'') is an American news and talk morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It ...
,'' '' Good Morning America'' and ''CBS'' '' 60 Minutes''. She is the genetic genealogy expert for '' Finding Your Roots'' and '' Genealogy Roadshow'' and heads the Parabon NanoLabs genetic genealogical unit.


Human identification cases

Moore has been a key player in a number of human identification cases. In 2014, she was the genetic genealogist who worked with the Branum family on the Thomas Ray Lippert University of Utah artificial insemination sperm swap case. Paul Fronczak was a newborn who was kidnapped from his mother's arms by a woman posing as a nurse in a Chicago hospital in 1964 and believed to have been returned to his natural parents in 1966. In 2015, Moore's team of genetic genealogists uncovered the true identity of the man raised as Paul Fronczak. Using the methods Moore uses for birth parent search in adoption, it was discovered that his real name is Jack Rosenthal and he has a missing twin named Jill. The real Paul Fronczak was found living in Michigan in 2019. In 2015, Moore and a team of researchers established the true identity of amnesiac Benjaman Kyle as William Burgess Powell. In 2004, Kyle had been found outside a Burger King in Georgia; doctors determined he suffered from
dissociative amnesia Psychogenic amnesia or dissociative amnesia is a memory disorder characterized by sudden retrograde episodic memory loss, said to occur for a period of time ranging from hours to years to decades. More recently, "dissociative amnesia" has been d ...
. For 11 years neither Kyle nor law enforcement assisting in his case knew his true identity, which he was able to later reclaim. Moore works with adults who were abandoned as babies to identify their biological identities. The birth parents of California foundling Kayla Tovo were identified, as were the birth parents of the Los Angeles area three half-sibling foundlings who were featured on 20/20 in May 2016, and the birth parents of the Tulsa Fairgrounds foundling "May Belle" aka Amy Cox, as featured on ''The Dr. Oz Show'' in October 2016. As a genetic genealogy researcher for the PBS series ''Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.'', in 2015 Moore made the discovery that LL Cool J's mother was adopted. Through analysis of his DNA, she was able to identify his biological grandparents and introduce him to his 90-year old biological maternal grandmother.


Projects


Family research

Moore founded a Facebook group called DNA Detectives Facebook group for adoptees and others of unknown parentage trying to use DNA to help identify birth family. In 2022, this Facebook page had 170,000 followers. As a result of discovering that her brother-in-law is a direct descendant of
Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was previously the natio ...
and
Sally Hemings Sarah "Sally" Hemings ( 1773 – 1835) was an enslaved woman with one-quarter African ancestry owned by president of the United States Thomas Jefferson, one of many he inherited from his father-in-law, John Wayles. Hemings's mother Elizabet ...
after a
23andMe 23andMe Holding Co. is a publicly held personal genomics and biotechnology company based in South San Francisco, California. It is best known for providing a direct-to-consumer genetic testing service in which customers provide a saliva sample ...
test revealed unexpected African ancestry, Moore founded the Hemings/Jefferson Autosomal DNA Project.


Criminal investigations

In 2018, Moore joined Parabon NanoLabs as head of their genetic genealogy unit and had three female genealogists working for her. Parabon investigates cold cases using genetic genealogy. In September 2018 Moore said she was able to solve about half of the cases on which she was working. In February 2019, she was optimistic that most cold cases could be solved using public DNA data in a few years. However, in May 2019,
GEDmatch GEDmatch is an online service to compare autosomal DNA data files from different testing companies. The website gained significant media coverage in April 2018 after it was used by law enforcement to identify a suspect in the Golden State Kille ...
, the DNA database that she had mostly used to solve cold cases, changed its privacy rules so that it became much more difficult to solve cold cases. Moore said "Whatever one thinks about this decision, it is inarguable that it is a setback for justice and victims and their families." In January 2022, she said they had solved more than 150 cases.


Case results


= 2018

= * Her first case helped lead to the arrest in 2018 of William Earl Talbott II for the murder of Tanya Van Cuylenborg in Snohomish County, Washington in 1987. He pled not guilty but in June 2019, he was convicted of two counts of aggravated first-degree murder and sentenced to two life sentences. In December 2021, Talbott's conviction was overturned by an Appeals Court because one of the jurors was biased. The genetic genealogy was not questioned and a retrial is planned. * In 2018, she helped the police arrest Raymond Rowe for the 1992 sexual assault and murder of the 25-year-old schoolteacher Christy Mirack in East Lampeter Township, Pennsylvania. Rowe confessed and was sentenced to life without parole. * She also helped lead the police to arrest Gary Hartman, a suspect for the 1986 rape and murder of a 12-year-old child, Michella Welch in
Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Pa ...
. In 2019, Washington state passed "Jennifer and Michella's law" named after Welch and Jennifer Bastian, a 13-year-old girl also murdered in 1986. This law allowed police more latitude in taking DNA samples from convicted sex offenders. Hartman was convicted and sentenced to 26 years in prison in March 2022. * She also helped identify the murderer in a 1981 stabbing and strangulation of 40-year-old realtor Virginia Freeman in
Brazos County, Texas Brazos County ( ) is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 233,849. The county seat is Bryan, Texas, Bryan. Along with Brazoria County, Texas, Brazoria ...
as James Otto Earhart who had been executed in 1999 for the murder of nine-year-old Kandy Kirtland in 1987. Earhart's body was exhumed and a DNA match made between evidence at the crime scene and between him and his son. Earhart was also suspected of having murdered 51-year-old Ruth Richardson Green in 1986. * In 2018, Moore helped police find John D. Miller, the murderer of April Marie Tinsley, an eight-year-old girl who was raped and strangled in 1988 near
Fort Wayne, Indiana Fort Wayne is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Indiana, United States. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 as of the 2020 Censu ...
. Miller confessed to the crime after he was arrested and was sentenced to 80 years in jail. *In 2018, Matthew Dusseault and Tyler Grenon were arrested as suspects in the 2016 murder by stabbing of Constance Gauthier, an 81-year-old woman in
Woonsocket, Rhode Island Woonsocket ( ), is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 43,240 at the 2020 census, making it the sixth largest city in the state. Being Rhode Island's northernmost city, Woonsocket lies directly south of ...
in a case assisted by Moore and Parabon. The charges against Grenon were later dismissed. * In 2018, Moore and Parabon helped police with the arrest of Spencer Glen Monnett who was charged with the rape, burglary and assault of a 79-year-old woman in St. George, Utah in 2018. Monnett pled guilty and was sentenced to a minimum of six years in jail, although the Board of Pardons could require he serve his entire life as the maximum sentence. * She also helped the police with the 2018 arrest of Darold Wayne Bowden in connection with the six rapes in Fayetteville, North Carolina from 2006 to 2008 (called the Ramsey Street Rapist). Bowden was also a suspect for two other rape cases from 1998 to 2012. Bowden Pled guilty in February 2022 and was sentenced to 22 years in prison. * Moore helped with the arrest of Michael Henslick in 2018 for the murder of 22-year-old Holly Cassano in 2009 in
Champaign, Illinois Champaign ( ) is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 88,302 at the 2020 census. It is the tenth-most populous municipality in Illinois and the fourth most populous city in Illinois outside the Chicago metro ...
. Henslick was convicted and sentenced to life without parole. * She also assisted with the identification of Marlon Michael Alexander for a series of rapes that took place from 2007 to 2011 in Montgomery County, Maryland. Alexander confessed and was sentenced to life in jail. * Moore helped with the arrest and conviction of Luke Fleming for the 1999 rape and murder of 47-year-old Deborah Dalzell in
Sarasota, Florida Sarasota () is a city in Sarasota County on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The area is renowned for its cultural and environmental amenities, beaches, resorts, and the Sarasota School of Architecture. The city is located in the sou ...
. Fleming was given two life sentences. * Moore identified Robert Eugene Brashers (who committed suicide in 1999) as the man who raped and murdered Genevieve Zitricki (28) in Greenville, South Carolina in 1990 and murdered Megan Scherer (12), and her mother, Sherri Scherer (38), in Portageville, Missouri in 1998. * Moore helped police with the arrest in October 2018 of Michael Wayne Devaughn for the 1990 'Labor Day Murder' of 65-year-old Betty Jones, and the rape of 81-year-old Kathryn Crigler in Starkville, Mississippi. In November 2020, Devaughn pled guilty and was sentenced to life without parole. *In October 2018, Winston Corbett was arrested for the murder of professor James Miller and attempted murder of Linda Miller in October 2011 in
Elkhart, Indiana Elkhart ( ) is a city in Elkhart County, Indiana, United States. The city is located east of South Bend, Indiana, east of Chicago, Illinois, and north of Indianapolis, Indiana. Elkhart has the larger population of the two principal cities of th ...
. Moore's team at Parabon helped police identify Corbett with genetic genealogy. Corbett was convicted in November 2020 and was sentenced to 115 years in prison. * In November 2018, she helped the
Fulton County, Georgia Fulton County is located in the north-central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 1,066,710, making it the state's most-populous county and its only one with over o ...
police with the arrest of Jerry Lee in Alabama for the 1997 murder of 28-year-old Lorrie Ann Smith. * She helped the Orlando, Florida police with the arrest of Benjamin Holmes for the 2001 armed robbery and murder of 25-year-old college student Christine Franke. Eleanor Holmes, the suspect's mother, complained that police had obtained her DNA by deceit. * Moore helped the
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police with the arrest of John Arthur Getreu for the murder by strangulation of 21-year-old Stanford University graduate Leslie Marie Perlov in 1973. Getreu was later also charged with the 1974 killing by strangulation of another victim, 21-year-old Janet Taylor in
Palo Alto, California Palo Alto (; Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. The city was es ...
. * In December 2018, Moore's genetic genealogy unit was instrumental in the arrest and conviction of Jerry Lynn Burns for the murder by stabbing 39 years earlier of 18 year old Michelle Martinko in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Burns was sentenced to life without parole.


= 2019

= * In January 2019, Moore's group at Parabon identified William Louis Nichols as the violent rapist of a 12-year-old girl in
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in 1983 using genetic genealogy. Nichols died in 1998. *Shane Boice was arrested for raping a 33-year-old woman in 2012 in
Belle Fourche, South Dakota Belle Fourche (; ) is a city in and the county seat of Butte County, South Dakota, United States. Its population was 5,617 at the 2020 census. It is near the geographic center of the United States, which moved some 550 miles northwest from the ...
. Moore's team at Parabon had helped identify Boice. In September 2020, Boice pleaded guilty to the charges and was sentenced to 45 years in prison. * Moore's genetic genealogy group at Parabon also helped with the arrests in January 2019 of Russell Anthony Guerrero for the murder of 30-year-old Jack Upton, 28 years earlier in Fremont, California. * She helped with the arrest of Zachary Bunney for the murder by stabbing by machete of Scott Martinez in 2006 in La Mesa, California. Bunney was convicted and sentenced to 12 years in jail. * In January 2019, Moore's group identified Jerry Walter McFadden as the murderer and rapist of 20-year-old Anna Marie Hlavka in
Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...
in 1979. However, McFadden had already been executed for murder and rape in Texas in 1999. * In February 2019, Moore's team helped the Alaska police with the arrest of Stephen H. Downs in Maine for the murder of 20-year-old University of Alaska student Sophie Sergie in
Fairbanks, Alaska Fairbanks is a home rule city and the borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior region of Alaska and the second largest in the state. The 2020 Census put the p ...
in 1993. Downs was convicted in February 2022 and was sentenced in September to 75 years in prison. *In February 2019, Moore's team helped Virginia police with the arrest of Jesse Bjerke for the rape of a 24-year-old female lifeguard at gunpoint in
Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city in the northern region of the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of downtown Washington, D.C. In 2020, the population was 159,467. ...
in 2016. Bjerke confessed to the rape and was sentenced to 65 years in jail. * She helped California police with the arrest of James Alan Neal for the 1973 abduction and murder by strangulation of 11-year-old schoolgirl Linda O'Keefe in Newport Beach, California. Neal died in police custody in July 2020 before he went to trial. * Moore's team led California police to identify Joseph Holt as the perpetrator of the sexual aggression and murder of both 27-year-old Brynn Rainey in 1977 and 16-year-old Carol Andersen 1979 near South Lake Tahoe, California. However, Holt had already died in 2014. * Her team helped with the arrest in March 2019 of Thomas Lewis Garner as a suspect in the 1984 beating and death by strangulation in Sanford, Florida of 25-year-old Pamela Cahanes who had just graduated from US Naval basic training. Garner was convicted of the murder in May 2021 and was sentenced to life without parole. Garner is now being charged with the 1982 Hawaii murder of Kathy Hicks. * In March 2019, her team helped police with the arrest of Raymond L. Vannieuwenhoven charged with the murder of 25-year-old David Schuldes and the sexual aggression and murder of Schuldes' fiancée 24-year-old Ellen Matheys in 1976 in Silver Cliff, Wisconsin. In August 2021 he was sentenced to two life sentences. * She helped identify Kenneth Earl Day as the person who raped a 53-year-old woman in 1989 and raped and murdered 44-year-old Le Bich-Thuy in 1994 in Rockville, West Virginia. However, Day had already died in 2017 at the age of 52. * In March 2019, Moore's team at Parabon helped Alabama Police with the arrest of a truck driver with no criminal record, Coley McCraney, who was charged with the murder of two teenage girls, Tracie Hawlett and J.B. Beasley, in
Ozark, Alabama Ozark is a city in and the county seat of Dale County, Alabama. As of the 2010 census, the population of the city was 14,907. Ozark is the principal city of the Ozark Micropolitan Statistical Area, as well as a part of the Dothan-Ozark Combi ...
in 1999. * Her team helped Montana police identify Cecil Stan Caldwell as the prime suspect in the rape and murder of 24-year-old Linda Bernhardt and the murder of her husband 24-year-old Clifford Bernhardt in
Billings, Montana Billings is the largest city in the U.S. state of Montana, with a population of 117,116 as of the 2020 census. Located in the south-central portion of the state, it is the seat of Yellowstone County and the principal city of the Billings Met ...
in 1973. However, Caldwell (a co-worker of Linda Bernhardt) had already died in 2003. * In March 2019, Moore's team identified a body which had been found beside the James River in 2016 as Hassan A. Alkebu-Lan of Richmond, Virginia using genetic genealogy. Police did not suspect this was a crime scene. * In May 2019, Moore's team at Parabon assisted police with the arrest of Richard E. Knapp charged with the rape and murder of 26-year-old Audrey Frasier in 1994 in
Vancouver, Washington Vancouver is a city on the north bank of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington, located in Clark County. Incorporated in 1857, Vancouver has a population of 190,915 as of the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Was ...
. * Her team helped identify Jeffrey Hand as the killer of 19-year-old
Indiana State University Indiana State University (ISU) is a public university in Terre Haute, Indiana. It was founded in 1865 and offers over 100 undergraduate majors and more than 75 graduate and professional programs. Indiana State is classified among "D/PU: Doctor ...
student Pam Milam who was raped and strangled in Terre Haute, Indiana in 1972. However, Hand had already died in 1978. * Brian Leigh Dripps confessed to the sexual assault and murder by stabbing of 18-year-old Angie Dodge in 1996 after
Idaho Falls, Idaho Idaho Falls (Shoshoni: Dembimbosaage) is a city in and the county seat of Bonneville County, Idaho, United States. It is the state's largest city outside the Boise metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the population of Idaho Falls was 64,8 ...
Police charged him in May 2019. Moore had helped police investigate this case in which other men had previously been targeted by the police. One man, Christopher Tapp, had been sentenced to 20 years in prison for the crime. Tapp was exonerated. Moore said "...to exonerate Christopher Tapp is the thing I am most proud of." * Johnnie B. Green Jr., was arrested and accused of nine rapes during the period from June 2009 to December 2010. Police in Fayetteville, North Carolina, credited Moore's Parabon team for its genetic genealogy assistance. * Frank Edward Wypych was identified as being responsible for the murder and sexual assault of Susan Galvin in 1967 in
Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region ...
. However, Wypych died in 1987. His body was exhumed and his DNA extracted to verify the identification, which was announced on May 7, 2019. This was the oldest cold-case (52 years) to be solved by Moore's team using genetic genealogy to-date. * Roger Hearne Kelso was identified in June 2019 as the homicide victim found inside a trash can during building excavation in 1985 in
Anne Arundel County, Maryland Anne Arundel County (; ), also notated as AA or A.A. County, is located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was 588,261, an increase of just under 10% since 2010. Its county seat is Annapolis, wh ...
using Parabon's genetic genealogy unit. Kelso was last seen in 1962. The perpetrator was not identified. *In July 2019, Moore's team from DNA Detectives helped
Riverside, California Riverside is a city in and the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States, in the Inland Empire metropolitan area. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. It is the most populous city in the Inland Empire an ...
police identify a non-verbal man who had been found unconscious at Christmas 2018. *The Steuben County Indiana police announced in July 2019 that, with the help of Parabon Nanolabs, they had identified the body of a woman found near
Angola, Indiana Angola is a city in Pleasant Township, Steuben County, Indiana, United States. The population was 8,612 at the 2010 census. The city is the county seat of Steuben County. Angola was founded by Thomas Gale and Cornelius Gilmore on June 28, 18 ...
in 1999. The woman was named as Tina L. Cabanaw, from Detroit. The cause of death was described as highly suspicious and undetermined. *In August 2019, Ivan Keith was arrested in Seal Cove, Maine and charged with five counts of aggravated rape in the 1990s in Massachusetts. Keith had a history of sexual offences. Parabon had assisted police by used genetic genealogy to identify Keith as a suspect. In November 2020, Keith pled guilty to one count of rape and was sentenced to 19 to 20 years in prison and in February 2021, Keith pled guilty to the remaining charges against him and was sentenced to 25 to 30 years in prison. *Donald McQuade was arrested in September 2019 in
Gresham, Oregon Gresham ( ) is a city located in Multnomah County, Oregon, in the United States of America, immediately east of Portland, Oregon. It is considered a suburb within the Greater Portland Metropolitan area. Though it began as a settlement in the mid ...
and charged with first and second-degree murder of 16-year-old Shelley Connolly in 1978 in Anchorage, Alaska. Connolly had been beaten, raped, dragged from a moving car and thrown over an embankment. She had tried to crawl out of the embankment but had died in the cold of the Alaskan winter. Moore's team at Parabon had helped local police using genetic genealogy and DNA from under Connolly's nails and on her body. *11-year-old Terri Lynn Hollis was sexually assaulted and murdered by strangulation in 1972 in
Torrance, California Torrance is a city in the Los Angeles metropolitan area located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city is part of what is known as the South Bay region of the metropolitan area. Torrance has of beachfront on the Pacific O ...
. In 2019, Moore and her team at Parabon helped police identify Jake Edward Brown as the possible killer. Brown had died in Arizona in 2003 but police exhumed his body and confirmed that his DNA was a match from the murder scene. Brown had been arrested for rapes in 1973 and 1974 and had served time in jail after Hollis' murder. *In September 2019, Moore's team helped Florida police with the arrest of Robert Hayes who was charged with the murder of 35-year-old Rachel Bay in March 2006 in Palm Beach County, Florida; DNA from Bay's murder scene matched DNA from a cigarette that Hayes had discarded. Hayes was also charged in November 2019 with the murders of Laquetta Gunther, Julie Green and Iwana Patton in a December 2005 - February 2006 time period in Daytona Beach. *Jeffrey King was indicted by a grand jury in September 2019 for the rape of a 22-year-old woman at the
University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially UD or Delaware) is a public land-grant research university located in Newark, Delaware. UD is the largest university in Delaware. It offers three associate's programs, 148 bachelor's programs, 121 ma ...
(
Newark, Delaware Newark ( )Not as in Newark, New Jersey. is a small city in New Castle County, Delaware, United States. It is located west-southwest of Wilmington. According to the 2010 Census, the population of the city is 31,454. Newark is home to the Uni ...
) in 1993. In October 2019, King turned himself in to the police. Moore and Parabon had used genetic genealogy to assist the police in this case. *In September 2019, Moore and Parabon helped Colorado police identify Donald Steven Perea as the murderer of 18-year-old hitchhiker Jeannie Marie Moore in 1981 in Genesee Park,
Jefferson County, Colorado Jefferson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 582,910, making it the fourth-most populous county in Colorado. The county seat is Golden, and the most populous city is Lakewood. ...
. Perea had already died in 2012 and had served time in prison for rape from 1982 to 1985. *In October 2019, Moore and Parabon helped police identify the remains of the body of a murdered teenage girl nicknamed "The Fly Creek Girl" found in 1980 near
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. The girl, Sandra Morden, was born in 1962 and police believed she was murdered in 1977 or 1978. *19-year-old Mason Alexander Hall was charged in October 2019 with the violent rape at gunpoint of a 19-year-old woman in
Norristown Farm Park Norristown Farm Park is a Pennsylvania state park in East Norriton and West Norriton Townships and the Borough of Norristown, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. Located just off of Interstate 276 on West Germantown Pike, it ...
, Pennsylvania in 2017. Hall was already in custody in 2019 for vandalizing a car and the DNA from his blood from this crime scene was a match for the DNA from the 2017 rape case. Parabon's genetic genealogy had pointed police to local suspects for this case, one of which was Hall. Hall was held on $1 million bail. Hall pled guilty in June 2021 and was sentenced to 13 to 32 years in prison. *In November 2019, Moore and her team at Parabon were instrumental in helping police arrest Giles Daniel Warrick who was charged with murder and ten rapes in Montgomery County, Maryland and
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in the 1990s. (See the Potomac River Rapist.) * Salisbury, North Carolina police announced in December 2019 that, with the help of Parabon, they believed they had identified Curtis Edward Blair as the killer of 15-year-old Reesa Dawn Trexler. She was found nude in her bedroom with several stab wounds in her neck and upper chest in 1984. Blair had already died in 2004 but his body was exhumed for DNA examination and police considered the case closed. *Moore and Parabon helped
Oak Ridge North, Texas Oak Ridge North (commonly referred to as Oak Ridge) is a city in Montgomery County, Texas, United States. It is located along Interstate 45 10 miles (16 km) south of Conroe and 35 miles north of Houston. The population was 3,057 at the 20 ...
police with the murder of Subir Chatterjee in 2002. Based on genetic genealogy and detective work, police arrested Martin Isaac Tellez in December 2019 and charged him with capital murder in Chatterjee's death. *In December 2019,
Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. Accord ...
police announced they believed they had identified James Francis McNichols as the murderer of 11-year-old Julie Fuller in 1983 with the help of Moore's team. However, McNichols had already died in 2004. *In December 2019, Moore, Parabon and United Data Connect helped
Douglas County, Colorado Douglas County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 357,978. The county seat is Castle Rock. Douglas County is part of the Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, Colorado, metropolitan statistica ...
police with the arrest of James Curtis Clanton for the rape and murder of 21-year-old Helene Pruszynski. Pruszynski, a radio station intern and a Massachusetts college student, was found dead in a field in 1980, naked, with her hands tied behind her back and with nine stab wounds. In February 2020, Clanton pled guilty and in July 2020, Clanton was sentenced to life in prison with 20 years before parole. *Moore and Parabon helped Fremont California police in December 2019 identify Charles Hudspeth as the killer of 16-year-old cousins Jeffrey Flores Atup and Mary Jane Malatag in 1982. However, Hudspeth had already died in 1999. His body was exhumed and was a match for DNA from the crime scene. *With the help of Moore's genetic genealogy team, Florida police arrested Joseph Mills in December 2019 and charged him with the rape and murder by strangulation of Linda Patterson Slaten in
Lakeland, Florida Lakeland is the most populous city in Polk County, Florida, part of the Tampa Bay Area, located along Interstate 4 east of Tampa. According to the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau release, the city had a population of 112,641. Lakeland is a principal ci ...
in 1981. Mills was Slaten's son's football coach. *In December 2019, Moore and Parabon helped
Parker County, Texas Parker County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 148,222. The county seat is Weatherford. The county was created in 1855 and organized the following year. It is named for Isaac Parker, a ...
police identify the remains of a young man murdered in 1984 and found in a shallow grave beside the road as 22-year-old William "Billy" Fiegener. Police later identified Forrest Ethington, who had already died of a heart attack, as the suspected killer.


= 2020

= * In January 2020,
DuPage County DuPage County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois, and one of the collar counties of the Chicago metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the population was 932,877, making it Illinois' second-most populous county. Its county seat ...
, Illinois Police announced they had identified the rapist/killer of 16-year-old Pamela Maurer in 1976 with the help of Parabon's genetic genealogy team. The killer was Bruce Lindahl who had died in 1981 and was suspected of being a serial killer. Lindahl's body was exhumed to confirm a DNA match. *In February 2020, Parabon's genetic genealogy team helped Montgomery County, Maryland police to identify Hans Alejandro Huitz as a suspect in the killing of James Kweku Essel in 1992. However, when police approached Huitz to arrest him, Huitz pulled a gun and was shot dead by the police. *In February 2020,
Dekalb County, Illinois DeKalb County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 100,420. Its county seat is Sycamore. DeKalb County is part of the Chicago-Naperville- Elgin, IL- IN- WI Metropolitan Stat ...
police announced they had arrested Jonathan Hurst and charged him with the murder of Patricia Wilson, 85, and her son Robert Wilson, 64, in Sycamore, Illinois in 2016. Moore and her team at Parabon had helped police with the case. *
Vallejo, California Vallejo ( ; ) is a city in Solano County, California and the second largest city in the North Bay region of the Bay Area. Located on the shores of San Pablo Bay, the city had a population of 126,090 at the 2020 census. Vallejo is home to th ...
police said in February 2020, with the help of Parabon's genetic genealogy unit, they had identified the likely killer of 57 year old Naomi Sanders who was raped and strangled in 1973. However, the suspect, Robert Dale Edwards (whose father had worked with Sanders), had already died from a drug overdose in 1973. *In March 2020, it was reported that Parabon had helped
Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1,608,139 residents as of 2020. It is the fifth-most populous city in the United States, and the on ...
police identify the body of young woman found in 1983 (
Pinal County Pinal County is in the central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. According to the 2020 census, the population of the county was 425,264, making it Arizona's third-most populous county. The county seat is Florence. The county was founded in 187 ...
Jane Doe 1983) as Peggy Elgo, a member of the
San Carlos Apache tribe The San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation ( Western Apache: Tsékʼáádn), in southeastern Arizona, United States, was established in 1872 as a reservation for the Chiricahua Apache tribe as well as surrounding Yavapai and Apache bands removed f ...
. * Pensacola, Florida police arrested Daniel Leonard Wells in March 2020 and charged him with the sexual assault and murder by strangulation of 23-year-old Tonya Ethridge McKinley in 1985. Moore's team had helped the police using genetic genealogy. The police said DNA from Wells's discarded cigarette matched semen from the crime scene. Wells committed suicide in April 2020 by hanging himself in his cell before a scheduled court appearance. *The murderer and rapist of 12-year-old Marsi Belecz in
Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Cana ...
in 1985 was identified as Clayton Carl Giese with the help of Moore's team at Parabon. Giese had died in a car accident but police exhumed his body which was a DNA match with semen from the dead girl's body. *In April 2020, Moore's team helped
Delaware County, Ohio Delaware County is a county located in the central portion of the U.S. state of Ohio. It is a frequent placeholder on the List of highest-income counties in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 214,124. Its county seat ...
police find Daniel Alan Anderson as the suspected killer of 15-year-old John Muncy whose body was found dismembered by the side of a road in 1983. However, Anderson had already died in 2013. * Santa Fe, New Mexico police arrested Joseph Matthew Gregory Jones in May 2020 and charged him with the murder by shooting of Robert J. Romero in July 2018. Moore's team at Parabon had helped local police narrow down the list of suspects. *In June 2020, it was announced that Moore's team at Parabon helped police identify the murderer of 47-year-old realtor Carolyn Cox Rose in 1978 in
Escambia County, Florida Escambia County is the westernmost and oldest county in the U.S. state of Florida. It is in the state's northwestern corner. At the 2020 census, the population was 321,905. Its county seat and largest city is Pensacola. Escambia County is incl ...
. However the perpetrator, Julius William Hill Jr., had already died in prison in 2007 while serving a 30-year sentence for two bank robberies. *
Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...
police arrested Leroy Jamal Smith in June 2020 and charged him with five rapes between 1993 and 1995 of women aged 19–40 years old. Moore's team at Parabon had helped police with the case. The charges against Smith were dropped after a judge ruled that Smith cannot be prosecuted in Muskogee County Court as a U.S. Supreme Court ruling said Smith couldn't be charged in state court due to tribal jurisdiction and that he also couldn't be charged in federal court because the statute of limitations had expired for rape. *Moore's team at Parabon helped
Chisholm, Minnesota Chisholm is a city in St. Louis County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 4,976 at the 2010 census. The city has been called "The Heart of the Iron Range" due to its location in the middle of the Mesabi Iron Range. History The city ...
police and the
Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) is a statewide criminal investigative bureau under the Minnesota Department of Public Safety that provides expert forensic science and criminal investigation services throughout the state of ...
with the arrest in July 2020 of Michael Allan Carbo Jr for the murder of 38-year-old Nancy Daugherty of
Chisholm, Minnesota Chisholm is a city in St. Louis County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 4,976 at the 2010 census. The city has been called "The Heart of the Iron Range" due to its location in the middle of the Mesabi Iron Range. History The city ...
. Daugherty was sexually assaulted, beaten and murdered at her house in 1986. *In July 2020, Alan Edward Dean was arrested by Snohomish County, Washington police and charged with the sexual assault and murder of 15-year-old Melissa Lee of Bothell, Washington in 1993. Moore's team at Parabon had helped with the case. The charges against Dean have been dismissed twice after he was found incompetent to stand trial. *In August 2020, the Alaska Department of Public Safety announced that, with the help of Parabon, they had solved murder case of 17-year-old Jessica Baggen who was raped and strangled in Sitka, Alaska in 1996. Genetic genealogy pointed to Steve Branch who had been living Sitka in 1996. When approached by Alaskan police and asked for a DNA sample, Branch shot himself dead. Richard Bingham had been arrested and falsely accused of the murder in 1996. *Steven Ray Hessler was arrested by in August 2020 and charged with multiple cases of sexual assault and burglary between 1982 and 1985 in
Shelby county, Indiana Shelby County is a county in the U.S. state of Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 44,436. The county seat (and only incorporated city) is Shelbyville. History After the American Revolutionary War established US sov ...
. Moore's team at Parabon had helped Indiana police narrow down suspects to Hessler or a relative. Hessler was found guilty of his charges in March 2022 and was sentenced to 650 years in prison. *In 1986 the remains of a murdered teenage girl were found in a landfill in
Chesterfield, Virginia Chesterfield is an unincorporated community that is the county seat of Chesterfield County, Virginia, United States. It was a census-designated place (CDP) at the 2020 census. It was not delineated as a CDP for the 2010 census. The Chesterfield ...
. In August 2020 Moore's team at Parabon helped local police identify her as 16-year-old Christy Lynn Floyd who had lived in Richmond, Virginia. *The remains of a partial human skull and bone fragments were found near
Government Camp, Oregon Government Camp is an unincorporated community and census-designated place located in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States, on the base of Mount Hood and north of Tom Dick and Harry Mountain. It is the only town within of Mount Hood and theref ...
by US Forest Service workers in 1986. Date of death was estimated to be 1976. In October 2020 the Clackamas County, Oregon, Police announced that, with the help of Moore's team at Parabon, they had identified the skull as belonging to Wanda Ann Herr who was 19 in 1976. *In November 2020, with the help of Moore,
Westminster, California Westminster is a city in northern Orange County, California, known for its many Vietnamese refugees who immigrated to the city during the 1980s. They settled largely in Little Saigon, and the city is known as the "capital" of overseas Vietnam ...
police charged Aryan Vito Smith with the murder by stabbing of 22-year-old Treeanna Nichols in the Westminster Quality Inn in 2018. *19-year-old Deborah Tomlinson was found bound, sexually assaulted, and strangled to death in an apartment complex in
Grand Junction, Colorado Grand Junction is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Mesa County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 65,560 at the 2020 United States Census, making Grand Junction the 17th mo ...
in 1975. With the help of Parabon, police announced in December 2020 that they solved the case, and named the murderer as Jimmie Dean Duncan who had died in 1987. * Colorado Springs, Colorado police said in December 2020 that they were confident that they had identified Ricky Severt as the murderer of 23-year old Jennifer Watkins in 1999 with the help of Moore. Watkins was found dead, wrapped in plastic, and bound with duct tape in a stairwell in the hospital where she worked. Severt was a maintenance worker in the hospital at the time of the murder but had died in a car accident in 2001. *James Byrd was arrested in December 2020 and charged with armed kidnapping and sexual battery of a 22-year-old woman in
Tampa Bay, Florida Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and shallow estuary connected to the Gulf of Mexico on the west-central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, McKay Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay. The largest freshwater in ...
in 1998. Parabon had helped with the case. Two other rape cases in 1999 matched Byrd's DNA. Byrd was acquitted of all charges at trial.


= 2021

= * David Lee Blair was arrested by Pasquotank police in January 2021 and charged with the murder of 74-year-old George Washington Price Jr. in
Winston-Salem, North Carolina Winston-Salem is a city and the county seat of Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States. In the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the second-largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region, the 5th most populous city in ...
in 2016. Price had died from multiple stab wounds. Moore's team at Parabon had helped with this case. *In Fort Myers, Florida, in 1984, 31-year-old Claretha Gibbs died from gunshot wounds to the abdomen. From DNA found at the scene, Moore's team were able to identify James Glen Drinnon of
Okeechobee, Florida Okeechobee ( ) is a city in south-central Florida and is the county seat of Okeechobee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city's population was 5,254. It is the county seat of Okeechobee County. The Lake Okee ...
as a likely suspect. Police interrogated Drinnon on January 13, 2021, when he confessed to the murder. On January 18, 2021, Drinnon died at his home. * Robert Plympton was charged in June 2021 with the rape and murder of 19-year-old Barbara Mae Tucker in
Gresham, Oregon Gresham ( ) is a city located in Multnomah County, Oregon, in the United States of America, immediately east of Portland, Oregon. It is considered a suburb within the Greater Portland Metropolitan area. Though it began as a settlement in the mid ...
in 1980. Tucker had been walking towards the Gresham Mount Hood Community College when she was raped and beaten to death. Moore and her team had helped Gresham police with this case. * In July 2021, Lionel Wells was arrested for sexually assaulting five teenage girls between 2007 and 2014 in Detroit. In September 2022, after pleading guilty, Wells was sentenced to 25 to 50 years in prison. * In August 2021, Bruce A. Cymanski was arrested and charged with the kidnapping, sexual assault and murder of 17-year old Nancy Noga, a senior in high school in
Sayreville, New Jersey Sayreville is a borough in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. Sayreville is within the heart of the Raritan Valley region, located on the south banks of the Raritan River, and also located on the Raritan Bay. As of the 2010 United St ...
in 1999. CeCe Moore and her team had been instrumental in helping local police identify Cymanski. *In August 2021, Moore helped Newport Beach, California police identify Kenneth Elwin Marks as the likely murderer of 42-year-old Judith Nesbitt in 1980. Nesbitt had been showing her family's boat to a likely buyer. After a violent struggle she was robbed and shot. DNA had been extracted from the roots of hair found at the scene, a procedure thought to have been impossible before this case. Marks had died in 1999 and police considered this case to be solved. *In November 2021, Shawna Browning and her girlfriend Lauren Harrison were arrested in Detroit, Michigan and charged with Aggravated murder for the death of Shawna's 9-year-old daughter Haley Mae Coblentz who was found dead in Oregon on December 10, 2020. However the charges were dropped on March 11, 2022, pending further investigation. *In December 2021, David Edward Doran was identified as the Myers Park Rapist who was responsible for committing at least 15 sexual assaults of young girls in North Carolina between 1990 and 1999. Doran could not be charged as he died in 2008 from throat cancer. The case marked the 200th time that a lead from the Snapshot DNA analysis division at Parabon NanoLabs resulted in a positive identification since Parabon began offering forensic genetic genealogy services to law enforcement.


= 2022

= *In April, William Clark was arrested for the 1987 sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl. *In May, Jennifer Lynn Matter, of Belvidere Township, Michigan was arrested and charged with second-degree murder with intent, not premeditated, and second-degree murder without intent for the murders of her newborn daughter who was found dead in the Mississippi River in 1999 and her newborn son who was found dead in Lake Pepin in 2003. *In May, Alan Lefferts was arrested for the 1996 murder of James Branner in Tallahassee, Florida. *In July, the 1975 stabbing murder of Lindy Sue Biechler of Manor Township, Pennsylvania was linked to David Sinopoli using genealogical evidence that tracked back to Gasperina in Italy coupled with immigration records and the unusually thorough and complete records of a Lancaster County club that recorded Italian members' towns of origin. Police used a discarded coffee cup to link Sinopoli to crime-scene DNA leading to his arrest.


See also

*
Colleen M. Fitzpatrick Colleen M. Fitzpatrick (born April 25, 1955) is an American forensic scientist, genealogist and entrepreneur. She helped identify remains found in the crash site of Northwest Flight 4422, that crashed in Alaska in 1948, and co-founded the DNA ...


References


External links

* Raffi Khatchadourian
"Family Secrets"
profile of Moore in ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'', November 22, 2021
The DNA Detectives, Moore's website
*
DNA Detectives Facebook groupCeCe Moore - Genetic Genealogist Facebook PageCeCe Moore TwitterYour Genetic Genealogist, Moore's blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moore, CeCe 1969 births American genealogists American stage actresses Living people People from California Place of birth missing (living people) University of Southern California alumni 21st-century American actresses