Author Archives: identifinders

About identifinders

Rocket Scientist turned world class Forensic Genealogist.

Identifinders International Wins Fifth Place for DNA Hit of the Year

Posted on June 24, 2020

Identifinders International, in conjunction with the King Co. WA Sheriff’s Office, has been awarded Fifth Place in the Gordon Thomas Honeywell (GTH) DNA Hit of the Year Competition out of a field of 50 entries from 20 countries for their pioneering work on the 1991 Sarah Yarborough homicide. Continue reading →

Posted in Cold Cases, Crime and Law Enforcement, DNA Testing, Uncategorized | Tagged autosomal SNP testing, Cold case, DNA Hit of the Year, DNA Identification, Federal Way, Forensic Genealogy, genetic genealogy, Gordon Thomas Honeywell Government Affairs, King County Sheriff's Office, Phoenix Canal Murders, Sarah Yarborough, Seattle Police Department, Termo Fisher, Virtual HIDS Conference, Y-STR | 1 Comment

1968 Cold Case Murder of Gwen Miller Solved through Forensic Genealogy and Dedicated Detective Work

Posted on June 17, 2019

Through the use of DNA forensic genealogy, Rapid City police have identified the suspect responsible for the death of 60-year-old Gwen Miller. Ms. Miller, a Rapid City pharmacist, was located strangled and sexually assaulted in her bed at her home on Hall Street in 1968. Continue reading →

Posted in Cold Cases, Crime and Law Enforcement, DNA Testing | Tagged Cold case, Colleen Fitzpatrick, DNA, Eugene Carroll Field, Forensic Genealogy, genetic genealogy, Gwen Miller, Homicide, Rapid City Police Department, Wayne Keefe, Y-DNA | Leave a comment

Press Conference on Cold Case – Rapid City SD – 2 pm – 17 Jun 2019

Posted on June 17, 2019

RCPD MEDIA ADVISORY: Press conference to discuss new findings in cold case The media is invited to attend a press conference discussing new findings in the cold case investigation into a Rapid City homicide from 1968. The press conference will … Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and Law Enforcement | Tagged Cold case, Press Announcement, Press Release, Rapdi City Police Department, RCPD | Leave a comment

DNA-The Next Big Gold Rush?

Posted on May 29, 2017

The discovery of gold at Sutters Mill, CA in 1848 promised untold wealth for those who had the resources and stamina to outlast the competition. At the dawn of the California Gold Rush, there were no laws governing property rights; prospectors depended on … Continue reading →

Posted in DNA Testing, Uncategorized | Tagged 23andMe, AncestryDNA, Ann Wojecki, autosomal DNA, Autosomal SNP Tests, Bloom's Disease, California Gold Rush, claim jumping, DNA, DNA Identification, FDA, Forensic Genealogy, Genentech, General Mining Act of 1872, HIPPA, Identifinders, Mexican American War, MyHeritageDNA | 2 Comments

Big Business or Big Brother?

Posted on May 2, 2017

At the recent American Academy of Forensic Science meeting in New Orleans, I attended the workshop The Opiate Crisis, Dirty Bombs, Big Data/Big Problems, and Driverless Cars: On the Leading Edge of Forensic Science – 2017 Theoretical Forensic Sciences “Think Tank”. It … Continue reading →

Posted in DNA Testing, Uncategorized | Tagged 23andMe, AncestryDNA, Anne Wojcicki, Direct-to-consumer, DNA testing, DTC Testing, MyHeritage, Tim Sullivan | Leave a comment

Who Am I? What is My Name? – Part XII – Taking Stock

Posted on December 8, 2016

INTRODUCTION As with all research projects, there have been so many zigzags in this story, it’s only reasonable to take a break to take stock of where we are in solving the puzzle of Pnina’s identity. We haven’t solved all … Continue reading →

Posted in DNA Testing, Finding Birth Parents, Historical Identifications, Holocaust Project, Uncategorized, Unsolved Mysteries | Tagged Albert Lotterer, Archives of New Records in Warsaw, Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum, Badische Landesbibliotek Wurttemberg, Berlin Bundesarchiv Lichterfelde, Berlin Landesarchiv, Central Archives of Modern Records in Warsaw, Charlotte Rebhun, Deutsche Dienstelle, genealogyindexer.org, Gertrude Priess-Spiro, Gertrude Spiro, Institute of National Remembrance, International Tracing Service, ITS, Jewish Historical Institute, JewishGen.org, JRI Poland, Landkreis Barnim, Leo Spiro, missing-identity, Museum of the Warsaw Uprising, Pawiak Prison Museum, Pnina Gutman, Polish State Archives in Warsaw, Sonia Priess-Spiro, Sonia Spiro, Stadtarchiv Leipzig, U.S. Library of Congress, U.S. National Archives, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, USHMM, Warsaw Ghetto, William Bremen Jewish Heritage Museum, Więżniowie Pawiaka, Yad Vashem, Zentral- und Landesbibliotek, Zentral- und Landesbibliothek Berlin (ZLB) | 3 Comments

Who Am I? What Is My Name? Part XI – Berlin, Warsaw, and the German Soldier

Posted on November 8, 2016

I recently traveled to Berlin and Warsaw to personally research in the various German and Polish archives. My hope was to find more information about Gertrude Priess-Spiro and her circle of acquaintance and friends, towards the goal of finding the … Continue reading →

Posted in Finding Birth Parents, Historical Identifications, Holocaust Project, Uncategorized, Unsolved Mysteries | Tagged Albert Lotterer, Berlin Bundesarchiv, Berlin Landesarchiv, Bundesarchiv Lichterfeld, Einwohnermeldekartei, Gertrude Priess-Spiro, Gertrude Spiro, Leo Spiro, Martin Luchtenhandt, Pawiak Prison, Pnina Gutman, Serbia, Sonia Spiro, Warsaw Ghetto, Zentral- und Landesbibliotek, ZLB | 5 Comments

For Immediate Release – Grant from the Elie Wiesel Jewish Studies Center, Boston University

Posted on November 7, 2016

The Center for Professional Education at Boston University has been awarded a competitive grant from Jewish Cultural Endowment Fund of the Elie Wiesel Center for Jewish Studies to hold a one-day workshop “Holocaust Survival and Reunion Stories: Separating Fact from … Continue reading →

Posted in About Me, DNA Testing, Finding Birth Parents, Historical Identifications, Holocaust Project, Unsolved Mysteries | Tagged Boston University, Elie Wiesel Center for Jewish Studies, Forensic Genealogy, Holocaust, Jewish Cultural Endowment, JewishGen, JRI Poland, The Mascot, Yad Vashem | Leave a comment

Who Am I – What Is My Name – Part X – Gertrude’s Marriage and Divorce

Posted on November 6, 2016

By now, everyone who reads this should know Gertrude Priess-Spiro, the woman who arranged to have Pnina Gutman smuggled from the Warsaw Ghetto in August or September 1942. New information about her has recently been discovered that provides details about her … Continue reading →

Posted in Finding Birth Parents, Historical Identifications, Holocaust Project, Uncategorized | Tagged Alfred Roehrs, Anklamer Strasse, Auschwitz, Brunnenstrasse, David Leo Spiro, Forensic Genealogy, Gertrude Priess-Spiro, Identifinders, Jewish Historical Institute, Landesarchiv Berlin, Leo David Spiro, missing-identity, Pawiak Prison, Pnina Gutman, Poland, Polish State Archives in Warsaw, Unidentified, Warsaw, Warsaw Ghetto | Leave a comment

Calendar of Upcoming Events

Posted on October 2, 2016

Calendar October 2016 through March 2017 October 20, 2016 2:30 pm Forensic Genealogy: The Database Detective 6:30 pm The Secrets of Abraham Lincoln’s DNA The Polish Genealogical Society of Massachusetts & the Chicopee Public Library Chicopee Public Library 449 Front Street, Chicopee, … Continue reading →

Posted in About Me, Calendar, Uncategorized | Leave a comment