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USA Today
08-04-2025
- USA Today
Remains found 29 years ago near Charlotte stadium ID'ed as woman last heard from in 1991
Remains found 29 years ago near Charlotte stadium ID'ed as woman last heard from in 1991 Remains found in a wooded area in North Carolina nearly 30 years ago have been identified as those of a woman last heard from in 1991, police announced Friday. The remains of Betty Jean Benton, which sat unidentified for nearly 30 years, were found on July 18, 1996 near what's now called Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte. Benton's family last heard from her in February 1991, when she said she was in North Carolina. Family members in 1992 reported her missing out of Louisiana, her home state, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said. Benton's remains were found four years later, when she would've been about 42 years old. The remains were taken to the Mecklenburg County Medical Examiner's Office, where officials determined the victim was female, police said in the news release. Officials ruled her death a homicide but detectives were unable to find out who she was. It wasn't until officials submitted remains for genetic testing in 2024 that Benton was identified soon after. Using DNA to identify slain woman To identify Benton, detectives tried a new approach in 2022 and sent the woman's remains to Raleigh for an osteological examination by a forensic anthropologist, police said in the news release. The team also sent bones to Othram Labs in Texas for advanced DNA testing. The team's first attempt to get DNA wasn't successful due to the condition of the woman's remains, police said. But in 2024, the Mecklenburg County Medical Examiner's Office sent more bones to Othram Labs for another DNA extraction, police said. Othram Labs was able to get a genetic profile this time around, police said. Investigators then loaded the woman's profile into two consumer genealogy databases that work with law enforcement, GEDmatch and Family Tree DNA. Authorities then worked with the Ramapo College of New Jersey, where genetic genealogy research allowed the center to identify the victim as Betty Benton. Detectives were able to contact her family, who let them know she hadn't been heard from since the early 1990s. They compared the woman's DNA to a DNA profile from a family member, confirming the remains belonged to Benton. Who was Betty Jean Benton? Benton was born in Louisiana on Feb. 27, 1954, police said. Although she spent most of her life in Chicago, she told family in February 1991 she was in North Carolina. Despite searching, detectives weren't able to find any record of her being in North Carolina prior to the discovery of her remains. The police department's next task is finding out what Benton was doing during the last few years of her life. Authorities ask that anyone who had contact with her in North Carolina contact detectives at (704) 432-8477. According to Charlotte police, the department's cold case unit still has nine other victims to identify, with remains having been discovered as early as 1932. Saleen Martin is a reporter on USA TODAY's NOW team. She is from Norfolk, Virginia – the 757. Email her at sdmartin@
Yahoo
05-04-2025
- Yahoo
Skeleton found near BoA Stadium in 1996 identified as woman with cryptic past, CMPD says
A skeleton found in 1996 near Bank of America Stadium has finally been identified, and investigators say there is no record of the dead woman ever being in North Carolina. Police identified Betty Jean Benton through forensic genetic genealogy, according to a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department news release Friday. Her death was ruled a homicide, police said. Remains found in woods near the stadium on July 18, 1996, were taken to the Mecklenburg County Medical Examiner's Office, where the victim was determined to be female, police said. 'Despite efforts to identify the victim through conventional means, detectives were unsuccessful,' police said Friday. In 2022, police sent the remains to Raleigh for an osteological examination by a forensic anthropologist. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Foundation paid Texas-based Othram Labs to do advanced DNA testing on bones. Because of the condition of the remains, DNA couldn't be extracted, police said. Last year, the Mecklenburg County Medical Examiner's Office sent more bones to Othram Labs, which obtained a genetic profile, CMPD said. The foundation also paid for that additional testing, according to police. The victim's profile was loaded into two consumer genealogy databases, GEDmatch and Family Tree DNA. Both companies cooperate with police, according to CMPD. The CMPD Cold Case Unit partnered with the Investigative Genetic Genealogy Center at Ramapo College in New Jersey to conduct investigative genetic genealogy research. IGG analysts 'quickly identified the victim as Betty Benton,' according to the CMPD statement. Police next contacted Benton family members who said she hadn't been heard from since the early 1990s. A DNA profile from a family member confirmed the victim was Benton, CMPD said. Benton was born in Louisiana on Feb. 27, 1954, police said, and spent most of her life in Chicago, Illinois. 'She was reported missing in 1992 and last contacted family members in February 1991, telling them she was in North Carolina,' according to the CMPD statement. Police have found no record of Benton in North Carolina and are asking the public for help. Anyone who contacted Benton in North Carolina is asked to speak to a CMPD police detective at 704-432-8477. As of Friday, the CMPD Cold Case Unit was still working to identify at least nine other homicide victims, whose remains were discovered as far back as 1932.
New York Times
25-02-2025
- New York Times
To Identify Suspect in Idaho Killings, F.B.I. Used Restricted Consumer DNA Data
As investigators struggled for weeks to find who might have committed the brutal stabbings of four University of Idaho students in the fall of 2022, they were focused on a key piece of evidence: DNA on a knife sheath that was found at the scene of the crime. At first they tried checking the DNA with law enforcement databases, but that did not provide a hit. They turned next to the more expansive DNA profiles available in some consumer databases in which users had consented to law enforcement possibly using their information, but that also did not lead to answers. F.B.I. investigators then went a step further, according to newly released testimony, comparing the DNA profile from the knife sheath with two databases that law enforcement officials are not supposed to tap: GEDmatch and MyHeritage. It was a decision that appears to have violated key parameters of a Justice Department policy that calls for investigators to operate only in DNA databases 'that provide explicit notice to their service users and the public that law enforcement may use their service sites.' It also seems to have produced results: Days after the F.B.I.'s investigative genetic genealogy team began working with the DNA profiles, it landed on someone who had not been on anyone's radar: Bryan Kohberger, a Ph.D. student in criminology who has now been charged with the murders. The case has shown both the promise and the unregulated power of genetic technology in an era in which millions of people willingly contribute their DNA profiles to recreational databases, often to hunt for relatives. In the past, law enforcement officials would need to find a direct match between DNA at the crime scene and that of a specific suspect. Now, investigators can use consumer DNA data to build family trees that can zero in on a person of interest — within certain policy limits. While some companies have allowed users to choose whether their DNA information may be used to help criminal investigations, the decision by the authorities to skirt those limits could mean that the companies' privacy assurances are essentially meaningless. Erin Murphy, a law professor at New York University who focuses on DNA and new policing methods, said she was surprised that the F.B.I. might have violated rules that the federal government had spent so much time working to establish. She was also concerned that investigators seemingly had no repercussions for doing so. 'I think what we are teaching law enforcement is that the rules have no meaning,' she said. Steve Kramer, a former F.B.I. lawyer who has specialized in genetic genealogy investigations, said the rules were designed as a framework, not a legal limitation. They can help guide typical investigative work, he said, but when it comes to a serious case where other investigative options are limited, such as the Idaho case, investigators may need to take additional steps. 'We'll never know, thank God, what Bryan Kohberger would have done had he not been caught,' he said. On the morning of Nov. 13, 2022, four University of Idaho students — Madison Mogen, 21; Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Ethan Chapin, 20 — were found dead in an off-campus home, the victims of a vicious stabbing spree. The police spent weeks looking for a suspect as residents of the small college town of Moscow, Idaho, waited in fear. Behind the scenes, investigators were examining a wide range of people: classmates, people charged with prior assaults and some people with the thinnest connections to Idaho. On a knife sheath found next to two of the victims, investigators found DNA. But when they put the sample into the federal law enforcement database CODIS, there was no match. In recent testimony from a closed-door court hearing, Idaho officials described how on Nov. 22, investigators brought the DNA sample to Othram, a company near Houston that specializes in genetic genealogy, often helping law enforcement solve decades-old cold cases by taking a modern analysis of the DNA profile. Othram began doing genetic genealogy and building a family tree, apparently following the protocols of Justice Department policy. Mr. Kramer said the policy had been put into place after he and other investigators used genetic genealogy to solve the Golden State Killer case in 2018. In that case, investigators had used online services to identify a new suspect. Those services were uncomfortable with the intrusion, but some, such as GEDmatch, have since allowed users to consent to having their data included as part of a DNA analysis tool that can be used by law enforcement. While the Justice Department policy prohibits use of DNA genetic databases that object to law enforcement access, the policy offers a broad footnote, saying that it 'does not impose any legal limitations on otherwise lawful investigative' techniques. In the Idaho case, according to the recent testimony, a preliminary report produced by Othram said the closest match it was working with shared 70.7 centimorgans of DNA with the crime scene sample. Mr. Kramer said that was a low match, typically representing two people who would perhaps share a great-great grandparent. To enhance the family tree, Othram hoped to expand the DNA data available by approaching someone on the tree — one of four brothers — to see if they would be willing to contribute their DNA to help determine whether the team was on the right path. The identity of the brothers was not disclosed in the publicly available records, though their last name was not Kohberger. Matthew Gamette, the director of forensic services for the Idaho State Police, testified that the brother was not interested in participating and had asked not to be contacted again. Othram was eventually asked to stop its work on Dec. 10, with the F.B.I. expected to take over the genealogy search. In a memo, according to the testimony, the F.B.I. acknowledged turning to MyHeritage and a broader version of GEDmatch that includes people who have not opted in to law enforcement searches. The two companies did not respond to messages seeking comment. Leah Larkin, a genealogist working with Mr. Kohberger's defense team, testified that investigators discovered a match of 250 centimorgans somewhere on the family tree, a level of comparison that offers much more potential to uncover a final match. Photos showed that investigators had built a family tree on a white board, Ms. Larkin said, with handwritten notes mapping out lines of relatives. What they found appears to have led to Mr. Kohberger on Dec. 19. Days later, investigators went to his family home in Pennsylvania, where he was staying with his parents during the winter holidays, and collected trash from the home that better connected the crime scene DNA to him. Mr. Kohberger's defense team has challenged much of the state's evidence and sought to undermine the DNA evidence by arguing that the authorities violated his constitutional rights by failing to obtain warrants before searching the DNA data. But a judge in the case has rejected those arguments as the case moves toward trial this summer. Mr. Kramer, the former F.B.I. lawyer, said that the use of genetic genealogy could prevent other kinds of law enforcement intrusions by helping narrow the scope of an investigation. In the Kohberger case, he noted, a white Hyundai Elantra had been seen driving near the victims' home, and that kind of evidence could lead detectives to examine the lives of many Elantra drivers who had done nothing wrong. But Ms. Murphy, the law professor, noted that many people's DNA could be shed at what might later become the scene of a crime, and that the widening tools had the potential to bring innocent people under extensive scrutiny or false charges, without clear rules. She says there are growing calls for legislation and legal review to establish mandatory parameters for the use of genetic genealogy. 'If this is a method that we want to use as a society, we should be able to come up with rules we can agree on, then expect people to follow them,' she said.
CBS News
20-02-2025
- CBS News
Judge in University of Idaho killings case makes ruling on key DNA evidence
An Idaho judge declined to throw out key evidence against the man charged with murder in connection with the killings of four University of Idaho students, saying Wednesday that the genetic investigation process that it hinges on was not unconstitutional. Judge Steven Hippler was not swayed by legal arguments made by Bryan Kohberger's defense team that law enforcement violated his constitutional rights when they used a process called Investigative Genetic Genealogy, or IGG, to identify possible suspects. The decision came nearly a month after a two-day hearing on the matter, removing what could have been a major wrench in the prosecution's case before trial starts in August. The judge said no one would be allowed into the courtroom but that the open portions of the trial would be livestreamed from the court's YouTube page. Kohberger is charged with four counts of murder in the deaths of Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves, who were killed in the early morning of Nov. 13, 2022, at a rental home near campus in Moscow, Idaho. When asked to enter a plea last year, Kohberger stood silent, prompting a judge to enter a not-guilty plea on his behalf. Prosecutors have said they will seek the death penalty if Kohberger is convicted. The IGG process often starts when DNA found at the scene of a crime doesn't yield any results through standard law enforcement databases. When that happens, investigators may look at all the variations, or single nucleotide polymorphisms, that are in the DNA sample. Those SNPs, or "snips," are then uploaded to a genealogy database like GEDmatch or FamilyTreeDNA to look for possible relatives of the person whose DNA was found at the scene. In Kohberger's case, investigators said they found "touch DNA," or trace DNA, on the sheath of a knife that was found in the home where the students were fatally stabbed. The FBI used the IGG process on that DNA and the information identified Kohberger as a possible suspect. Defense attorney Anne Taylor had argued that police never sought warrants to analyze the DNA found at the crime scene, nor did they get warrants to analyze the DNA of potential relatives that had been submitted to genealogy databases. She argued the court should suppress the IGG identification and everything that came from it. The judge said that in order to throw out evidence based on a warrantless search, Kohberger's defense would need to "show that he had legitimate expectation of privacy in the item or place searched." "Any privacy interest he can claim in this DNA was abandoned along with the sheath, to which he claims no ownership or knowledge," said Hippler. "Even if no such abandonment occurred, defendant has not demonstrated it is reasonable to recognize a privacy interest in DNA left at a crime scene." The judge also ruled against three other defense motions objecting to the way warrants were issued and to suppress evidence such as cellphone data. "He deserves to die," victim's mother says Last November, Kristi and Steve Goncalves, the parents of Kaylee Goncalves, said the details of the case show the death penalty is merited. "You've got four victims, all in one house - that's more than enough," Steve Goncalves said. Kristi Goncalves said she talked to the coroner and knows what happened to her daughter. "If he did anything like he did to our daughter to the others, then he deserves to die," she said. Steve Goncalves told "48 Hours" last year that "there's evidence to show that she awakened and tried to get out of that situation," saying "she was trapped" based on the way the bed was set up Goncalves' family said in the spring that they were frustrated by how long it has taken the case to progress through the judicial system. "This case is turning into a hamster wheel of motions, hearings, and delayed decisions," the family said in a statement.
CBS News
20-02-2025
- CBS News
Judge in University of Idaho killings case declines to throw out DNA evidence
An Idaho judge declined to throw out key evidence against the man charged with murder in connection with the killings of four University of Idaho students, saying Wednesday that the genetic investigation process that it hinges on was not unconstitutional. Judge Steven Hippler was not swayed by legal arguments made by Bryan Kohberger's defense team that law enforcement violated his constitutional rights when they used a process called Investigative Genetic Genealogy, or IGG, to identify possible suspects. The decision came nearly a month after a two-day hearing on the matter, removing what could have been a major wrench in the prosecution's case before trial starts in August. The judge said no one would be allowed into the courtroom but that the open portions of the trial would be livestreamed from the court's YouTube page. Kohberger is charged with four counts of murder in the deaths of Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves, who were killed in the early morning of Nov. 13, 2022, at a rental home near campus in Moscow, Idaho. When asked to enter a plea last year, Kohberger stood silent, prompting a judge to enter a not-guilty plea on his behalf. Prosecutors have said they will seek the death penalty if Kohberger is convicted. The IGG process often starts when DNA found at the scene of a crime doesn't yield any results through standard law enforcement databases. When that happens, investigators may look at all the variations, or single nucleotide polymorphisms, that are in the DNA sample. Those SNPs, or "snips," are then uploaded to a genealogy database like GEDmatch or FamilyTreeDNA to look for possible relatives of the person whose DNA was found at the scene. In Kohberger's case, investigators said they found "touch DNA," or trace DNA, on the sheath of a knife that was found in the home where the students were fatally stabbed. The FBI used the IGG process on that DNA and the information identified Kohberger as a possible suspect. Defense attorney Anne Taylor had argued that police never sought warrants to analyze the DNA found at the crime scene, nor did they get warrants to analyze the DNA of potential relatives that had been submitted to genealogy databases. She argued the court should suppress the IGG identification and everything that came from it. The judge said that in order to throw out evidence based on a warrantless search, Kohberger's defense would need to "show that he had legitimate expectation of privacy in the item or place searched." "Any privacy interest he can claim in this DNA was abandoned along with the sheath, to which he claims no ownership or knowledge," said Hippler. "Even if no such abandonment occurred, defendant has not demonstrated it is reasonable to recognize a privacy interest in DNA left at a crime scene." The judge also ruled against three other defense motions objecting to the way warrants were issued and to suppress evidence such as cellphone data. "He deserves to die," victim's mother says Last November, Kristi and Steve Goncalves, the parents of Kaylee Goncalves, said the details of the case show the death penalty is merited. "You've got four victims, all in one house - that's more than enough," Steve Goncalves said. Kristi Goncalves said she talked to the coroner and knows what happened to her daughter. "If he did anything like he did to our daughter to the others, then he deserves to die," she said. Steve Goncalves told "48 Hours" last year that "there's evidence to show that she awakened and tried to get out of that situation," saying "she was trapped" based on the way the bed was set up Goncalves' family said in the spring that they were frustrated by how long it has taken the case to progress through the judicial system. "This case is turning into a hamster wheel of motions, hearings, and delayed decisions," the family said in a statement.
