Houston lab’s breakthrough in cold cases

Published: Sep 08, 2024 Duration: 00:03:48 Category: News & Politics

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Tonight, a remarkable story of innovation and the pursuit of justice. For years, cold cases have haunted families and communities with countless crimes going unsolved because of degraded or contaminated evidence. But now there's this groundbreaking lab making a huge difference. And they're based right here in the Houston area. Fox 26 Sherman Desselle shows us how they do the work. You're back in July, a 23 year old cold case involving a newborn baby girl was solved. It was because of the advanced forensic technology at a lab based in the Woodlands. This company is helping to bring hope to families who never thought that they would see justice. Cold cases leave an open wound for so many individuals and families across the country. A lack of resources and funding from police departments make solving homicides, sexual assaults and missing person cases challenging. There's a one of a kind laboratory nestled in the woodlands that wants to change that. Well, there are a few things you can do in life, or you can see this much impact this quickly. And, I mean, I have a front row seat and I wouldn't change it for the world. Forensic expert doctor Kristen Mittleman is the chief development officer of Othram Incorporated. She and her husband, David, founded a lab that surpasses standard forensic technology and solves up to five cold cases per day. Forensic evidence is always degraded. Contaminated trace amounts a mixture between victim and perpetrator, sometimes multiple perpetrators and victim or multiple contributors to the DNA. The combined DNA index system, or Codis, is the common database used in investigations. Author built a robust method called forensic grade genome sequencing, focusing on distant relationships. A seventh cousin, a fifth cousin, a fourth cousin, a sixth cousin. And so it's like a little sonar so often points out some numbers 250,000 plus cases remain unsolved across the country, and that number grows each year as only 50% of that number is eventually solved in 50 to 75,000 unidentified remains, and victims are not positively ID'd. Using Codis, making it hard to solve cases like this one. In 2001, a newborn baby girl was found in a ditch in Johnson County, left to die with her umbilical cord still attached. That baby's DNA would not have been in Codis, right, because it was an infant. A few years ago, county detectives gave the DNA to Rotherham, and they found a match. The child's biological mother, 44 year old Shelby Stotts, was arrested and charged with second degree manslaughter. Another case that gained national attention was Rachel Moran, the 37 year old mother of five and fitness enthusiast who was found dead on a Maryland trail. Other labs helped to find her accused killer, Victor Antonio Martinez Hernandez, an undocumented migrant from El Salvador who sent authorities on a ten month search. Police say the man's DNA was found in a 2023 home invasion and sexual assault of a child in Los Angeles. It's one of the many cases of pioneering technology has helped to solve across the globe, and research is admissible in court. The company's goal is to make pursuing justice for victims a whole lot easier. Our dream and our hope is that there's thousands of others in the worl, and that every state lab has what it takes to do this type of testing so that every perpetrator is caught the first time they commit a crime. And there are no unidentified victims left anymore. Labs has helped to solve over a dozen cases in the state of Texas, and that includes the Houston area. You can learn more about those cases and how to support our miss

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