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For immediate release
June 11, 2004
Virginia lab records its 2,000th DNA cold hit
Richmond, Va. – The Virginia Division of Forensic Science
has recently recorded its 2,000th DNA “cold hit” in
a pioneering program that has helped solve murders, rapes
and other crimes for more than a decade.
A cold hit occurs when DNA in crime-scene evidence such
as blood or hair matches DNA registered in the state’s
databank. It also occurs when DNA found at two crime scenes
match, linking the crimes.
Virginia’s DNA databank, established in 1989, is now
the largest in the nation, holding samples from more than
216,000 felons and, since last year, those arrested for violent
felonies. It took eight years to reach the first 1,000 hits,
but because the databank has grown so rapidly, only 18 months
to reach the second thousand.
“
As of March, there had been 7,951 evidence-to-individual
cold hits among 40 state and two federal labs according to
the FBI,” said Paul Ferrara, director of the Virginia
Division of Forensic Science. “Virginia had accounted
for 1,522 of those hits; the closest states at that time
were New York, with 1,365, and Florida, with 1,179.”
The vast majority of the 2,000 hits matched crime-scene DNA
with that of suspects, rather than matching one crime with
another. More than 100 of the hits either matched Virginia
suspects with out-of-state evidence, or out-of-state suspects
with Virginia DNA crime-scene evidence. About 11 percent
of the cases assisted or solved by the hits were murders;
one percent were sex crimes; and 59 percent were property
crimes. The rest were various other crimes.
Ferrara said many of the 2,000 hits involve cases that are
still open, and a study will be conducted to learn how many
cases are closed as a result of the hits.
The Virginia Division of Forensic Science (DFS) is a nationally
accredited forensic-laboratory system serving all state and
local law enforcement agencies, medical examiners, and Commonwealth’s
Attorneys in Virginia. Located at the Virginia BioTechnology
Research Park, the examiners provide technical assistance
and training, evaluate and analyze evidence, interpret results,
and provide expert testimony related to the full spectrum
of physical evidence recovered from crime scenes.
Contact:
Nicky Colomb
Virginia BioTechnology Research Park
Phone: (804) 828-6884
E-mail: ncolomb@vabiotech.com
Web site: http://www.vabiotech.com
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