Nancy Guthrie Update: Notorious Serial Killer's Case May Provide Roadmap
On a recent podcast, one of the nation's top genetic genealogists and DNA analysts argued that a new method used to catch one of the country's most notorious serial killers could prove instrumental in the Nancy Guthrie disappearance.
Guthrie, 84, the mother of TODAY Show co-host Savannah Guthrie, was snatched from her Tucson home on February 1 and hasn't been seen since. Now, analyst CeCe Moore, appearing on Brian Entin Investigates, is arguing that the technique used to help catch Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann could provide a roadmap for the Guthrie case. She says that a new scientific technique allows authorities to trace the DNA in rootless hair.
In the Heuermann case, the judge allowed the rootless hair analysis to be entered in the case, which was noteworthy, Moore said. She was responding to Entin's report that the FBI is analyzing hair analysis in the Guthrie case. Although the agency hasn't specifically said that the hair evidence lacks a root, or even confirmed it exists, Moore noted that, if it had one, the analysis would have already occurred.
She did caution that it's not clear yet whether the hair even belongs to a suspect or suspects in the missing person's case. According to Moore, some of the hair in the Gilgo Beach serial killer case traced back to Heuermann's wife and daughter, who were not accused of any involvement in Heuermann's crimes.
“I’ve been really hoping that maybe they had some hair to work with. Because of the more recent advancements in the field, hair actually can make the case solvable,” Moore said on the podcast of the Guthrie case. "So I’m really excited.”
Rex Heuermann Was Apprehended in Part Through 'Degraded, Rootless Hairs'
(Photo by James Carbone - Pool/Getty Images)
According to CBS News, in the Heuermann case, a judge ruled that "cutting-edge advanced DNA testing" could be used in his trial, although he ended up pleading guilty instead.
CBS noted that it was only the second time such evidence had been admitted in a New York courtroom. "While relatively new... the principles used are accepted as reliable in the scientific community," the judge wrote. However, Moore said she has used it to solve cases in other states.
According to CBS, the analysis involved a method of "genome testing" from "degraded, rootless hairs," and the defense argued it was "he defense had argued the method of genome testing from "degraded, rootless hairs" is "inaccurate and inconclusive," and the judge agreed.
CBS explained that the new testing "allows old, rootless or poor-quality hair strands to be used to identify a suspect if thousands of small locations on the DNA match up."
According to CNN, the hairs were found on "six of the seven victims" attributed to Heuermann.
A California Company Specializes in the New Technology
CNN noted that the hair analysis technique was pioneered by Astrea Forensics, "a company that specializes in whole genome sequencing." That's the same company that Moore cited as possibly being of use in the Guthrie case.
"Whole genome sequencing" is “a method that attempts to read nearly all of a person’s DNA, covering the entire genetic code of about 3 billion bases,” or letters, Daniele Podini, an associate professor at George Washington University, told CNN.
In February, a journal article argued that rootless hair was a "reliable source of forensic genetic information."
"Despite the small quantities of fragmented DNA, we find multi-fold genome coverage can be generated from a few centimeters of most hair shafts - enough to generate accurate genotype calls and statistically compelling evidence for identity or non-identity," that article noted.