Latest news with #GeneticGenealogy
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Volusia sheriff: Remains of Atlantic Ocean diver who went missing in 2006 positively ID'd
The remains of an Atlantic Ocean diver who went missing off the coast of Ponce Inlet in 2006 have been identified, according to the Volusia County Sheriff's Office. Robert "Bobby" Martin, who was a 45-year-old condominium maintenance worker from New Smyrna Beach, went missing during a scuba diving trip in an eight-mile stretch of reefs called the "Party Grounds," some 22 miles east of Ponce de Leon Inlet. In 2007, scuba gear was recovered from a diving spot east of Ponce Inlet and was linked to Martin by tracing it to the dive shop that sold it, a Volusia sheriff's social-media post states. According to the sheriff's office, later in 2007, a woman walking along New Smyrna Beach discovered partial human remains and reported it to law enforcement. Those were two of the pieces Volusia sheriff's detectives and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement Genetic Genealogy Investigations team used to help positively identify the remains as Martin's. Martin went diving with Lawrence and Rebecca Patterson on their boat Restless Native on Sept. 30, 2006. "According to two people diving with him, he surfaced, gave the signal that he was in distress, slipped beneath the surface and did not resurface," U.S. Coast Guard spokesman Donnie Brzuska said told The News-Journal in 2006. "They tried to locate him and couldn't find him." A few days after Martin's disappearance, Lawrence Patterson, then of Daytona Beach, described him to the News-Journal as someone who lived to "work, dive and sleep." Patterson said he and Martin were diving 80 feet below the surface, looking for lobsters, when Martin swam off on his own. Some 35 minutes later, Rebecca Patterson heard Martin call for help some 400 feet from the boat. "He was gone in the blink of an eye," Lawrence Patterson said at the time. A 30-hour Coast Guard search covered 240 square miles over the weekend Martin went missing. By the end, searchers were "confident" they were not going to find Martin alive, Brzuska had said. Martin worked at the Moontide condominium as a maintenance man. In his shop, Martin had posted pictures of himself in diving gear. His boss, the condo manager Tana Keith, remembered him as "hard-headed, but he had a heart of gold," as well as a "wonderful work ethic" and a "great sense of humor." A seashell-covered wreath was posted on the condo's door along with a notice to residents about Martin's loss. Someone posted a note on a nearby bulletin board: "Neptune caught himself a good one this time." Martin was listed in the Florida Crime Information Center/National Crime Information Center as a missing person in August 2008. "(Volusia) detectives exhausted all avenues to obtain a DNA match but were unable to identify or locate any potential family members, and their efforts came up empty," the sheriff's office post reads. It wasn't until January 2025 that the case started coming to a close. The Sheriff's Office post states that the Volusia County Medical Examiner's Office and funding from FDLE's Missing and Unidentified Human Remains grant led to a DNA match to one of Martin's family members. Data was submitted to Othram, Inc., for DNA sequencing and a database search. When it came back, FDLE experts conducted "extensive analytical and genetic genealogy research," providing the DNA match and positive identification of Martin in May. The medical examiner reviewed the case, including an inspection of the 2007 dive equipment recovery, and deemed Martin's death accidental, the Sheriff's Office said. This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Diver's remains identified through DNA 19 years after he went missing
Yahoo
19-04-2025
- Yahoo
Woman's Killer, Who Left Her 3-Year-Old Unharmed, Found 50 Years Later
Originally appeared on E! Online An Indiana woman's 50-year-old murder case is finally getting answers. Five decades after she was found dead in a ditch on the side of a road with her 3-year-old daughter unharmed by her side, Phyllis Bailer's killer has been identified by authorities. Forensic genetic genealogy has led officials to determine Fred Allen Lienemann was the 26-year-old mom's assailant, the Indiana State Police shared in an April 16 press release. Lienemann's DNA was found on Bailer's clothing, per police. He would have been 25 at the time of her 1972 murder, which occurred while she was traveling in her parents' car from Indianapolis to Bluffton, I.N., with her 3-year-old daughter, per the release. "Lienemann had no known connections to Phyllis Bailer," officials continued of the Michigan-born man in the release, "but had a significant criminal history." And while authorities are confident that the DNA testing has led them to the correct killer, the Indiana State Police noted that they are unable to convict Lienemann, who sexually assaulted Bailer before fatally shooting her and leaving her on the side of the road, according to an autopsy obtained by the department. More from E! Online Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly Make First Public Outing Since Welcoming Baby Laura Prepon and Ben Foster's Divorce Settlement Reveals Their Eye-Popping Incomes 9-1-1 Killed Off a Major Character in Intense Season 8 Episode "During their investigation, detectives learned that Fred Lienemann was murdered in Detroit in 1985," the release stated. "If Fred Lienemann were alive today, the Allen County Prosecutor's Office would have charged him with the murder of Phyllis Bailer." As for why it took 50 years to solve Bailer's case? Police noted that DNA testing was not available in 1972 and was not widely used by law enforcement officials until two decades later. Additionally, new forensic technology that was developed by the company Identifinders in 2024 allowed police to pull a stronger DNA profile from Bailer's clothes, as opposed to the partial profile they had previously collected in the investigation. 'Identifinders is proud to have supported the Indiana State Police with bringing long overdue answers to Phyllis and her family," Identifinders founder Colleen Fitzpatrick shared in the press release. "This case is an example of still another homicide that would never have been solved without Forensic Genetic Genealogy." For the latest breaking news updates, click here to download the E! News App
