FIGG Success Stories
Serial Rapist in Mississippi, Tennessee Convicted Using FIGG
The case against Daniel Ray Skaggs hinged on an unknown DNA profile developed in 2004. Thanks to the tireless efforts of local, state and federal law enforcement and Bode Technology, a serial rapist was brought to justice.
When “Jane” was raped by an unknown assailant in 1990, despite their best efforts, the Brandon, Mississippi police department struggled to identify a suspect. When sometime later a man in jail for similar crimes sent a letter claiming to be Jane’s assailant, police were skeptical. However, while they were unable to conclusively link the potential suspect to the crime, they were also unable to rule him out. Nonetheless, Jane’s case went cold.
By 2004, the use of DNA in solving crimes was in its early days and a new Brandon police investigator decided to reopen Jane’s case. Though Mississippi Forensics ruled out the man who had confessed to the crime, they were able to develop a new unknown DNA profile. This profile, that of Jane’s rapist, was uploaded into CODIS but received no hits.
It wasn’t until 2017 that a Mississippi DNA analyst and CODIS administrator was notified that the DNA profile associated with Jane’s case had been matched to another unknown rape case in Memphis, Tennessee.
In 2021, the Rankin County District Attorney, at the suggestion of the Mississippi Forensics Laboratory, contacted Bode Technology for assistance. Bode developed a DNA profile from case evidence swabs and then began the process of building a family tree from birth, death and marriage records from across the country. They narrowed the suspect down to either Daniel Ray Skaggs, who was living in Oklahoma, or his brother. Daniel Ray Skaggs had criminal records in various states for assault, rape and attempted abduction, leading officers to believe this could be their assailant.
The Oklahoma Bureau of Investigations provided assistance by collecting discarded trash from Skaggs’ home from which a DNA profile was developed and compared to the profile from the 2004 DNA report. The statistical probability that Skaggs was the rapist in the case in the Memphis case was 1 in 660 quintillion. That he was Jane’s rapist had a 1 in 10 billion statistical probability. Daniel Ray Skaggs was convicted on June 22, 2023 and was sentenced to two life sentences.
Albuquerque Serial Rapist Convicted
FIGG helps Bernalillo County police to identify serial rapist from the 1980s and 1990s.
A man suspected in the rapes of four women has been arrested thanks to the technical capabilities of Bode Technology’s FIGG. The cases, which had long gone cold, were linked to the suspect, Ralph Anthony Martinez, after DNA evidence collected from a school bus that Martinez drives for Albuquerque Public Schools was matched the evidence collected in the victim’s Sexual Assault Kits.
Serial Rapist Identified using SAKI (Sexual Assault Kit Initiative)
Mesa Valley, Arizona Police Department arrest East Valley Rapist 22 years after first offense.
The man who came to be known as the East Valley Rapist terrorized the residents of Cochise County from 1999-2001. Eight women, each connected by similar suspect behavior and three women, connected by DNA evidence, were assaulted in their homes by an unknown assailant.
In February 2021, the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) identified John Daly III as a suspect. He was booked on four counts of sexual assault, three counts kidnapping, three counts burglary and three counts sexual abuse.
New Jersey Jane Doe Identified After Three Decades
FIGG returns DNA identification to unidentified Jane Doe remains.
The family of 16-year-old Wendy Louise Baker waited a long time to learn what happened to her. After disappearing in 1991 from her home in Coatsville, Pennsylvania, she was never heard from again. That same year, in Knowlton Township, New Jersey, hunters found the decomposed remains of a young girl in a field. However, evidence was initially not able to identify her or her killer. She was known as “Tiger Lady” because of a distinctive tiger tattoo on her leg.
In 2021, one of Tiger Lady’s bones was sent to Bode Technology from which DNA was extracted and a genetic profile uploaded to genealogical databases. That led to familial match to her uncle who, along with other family members provided additional DNA as well as photos of Wendy that matched forensic sketches.
Arrest Made in 20 Year-old Cold Case Homicide
Bode Technology’s FIGG expertise helps Portland Police Bureau Cold Case Unit to identify a murder suspect in 20-year-old cold case.
Christopher Lovrien, arrested in 2020 for the 1999 murder of Mark J. Dribin, was identified thanks to a match of DNA evidence and the technical capabilities of Bode Technology’s FIGG team of genealogists.
Though Dribin had been killed in Portland, Oregon over two decades ago, DNA evidence at the time did not return any CODIS hits, and despite a lengthy investigation, the case went cold.
However, when the Portland Police Bureau’s Cold Case Unit reopened the case in 2019, they submitted the DNA evidence to Bode Technology. With newly identified leads, the Oregon State Police Forensic Services Division continued with their own DNA analysis which ultimately led to the arrest of Christopher Lovrien. The trial against Lorvien is ongoing.
1956 Murders, the Oldest Cold Case to Benefit from FIGG, Solved
DNA from a 1956 cold case has been matched to a suspect thanks to Bode Technology’s FIGG.
Lloyd Duane Bogle and Patricia Kalitzke were last seen at Pete’s Drive-In on Jan. 2, 1956 in Great Falls, Montana. The next day their bodies were found miles apart, both shot in the head. Though numerous suspects had been identified, Cascade County Sheriff’s Office had never found definitive evidence needed to make an arrest. The CCSO, however, continued to work the case, removing bullets from a cottonwood tree at the scene where Bogle’s body was found in 1989, and testing sperm cells recovered and saved from Kalitzke’s autopsy in 2001. However, no CODIS hits were returned from either piece of evidence.
In 2019, Bode Technology partnered with the CCSO and using FIGG were able to obtain a new DNA sample from the evidence which was uploaded to genealogical databases and kinship research conducted. The DNA matched a Kenneth Gould who died in 2007. Gould had lived in the area at the time the murders occurred and moved from the area and eventually the state shortly thereafter. Though definitive guilt will never be proven, CCSO considers the case solved.
FIGG Identifies Jane Doe Missing Since 1976
For over 40 years Baltimore County Police wondered about the identity of a woman found tortured, raped and murdered. Thanks to advances in DNA and FIGG, her family finally has answers.
A young Jane Doe, found just outside of Baltimore in 1976, has been identified as Margaret Fetterolf from Alexandria, Virginia. She had run away from her family’s home a year before her body was found, and her family always wondered why she had never contacted them.
Using familial DNA from genealogy sites, Bode Technology has helped to identify Fetterolf and police are one step closer to finding her killer using new advances in investigative techniques. Pollen found on her clothes has been traced two locations in New York. A grass seed bag that had been placed over her head was sold in five stores in Massachusetts and keys in her pocket were also both manufactured in Massachusetts.
Police are trying to reconstruct the last months of Fetterolf’s life and researching these pieces of evidence to understand what might have happened.
Bode’s Forensic Genealogy Team Identifies Serial Rapist as Local Firefighter
A $1.4 million grant helps Connecticut police and Bode Technology to identify and arrest serial rapist.
Between 2001 and 2008, DNA evidence linked a serial rapist in Manchester and Vernon, Connecticut. Evading identification and arrest, each time new DNA technologies were developed, police would try again but with no success.
In 2015, a grant enabled the police to submit their DNA evidence to Bode Technology which then ran the samples against a public ancestry database to identify familial matches in order to develop a family tree. When Angelo Alleano, Jr, was arrested on a domestic violence charge, police already had a warrant for his DNA thanks to this new forensic investigative evidence.
The police are continuing to perform testing against unsolved sexual assault cases in hopes of bringing resolutions to victims and offenders to justice
Resources
Webinar Series
Forensic Investigative Genetic Genealogy (FIGG)
Webinar
Bode X-traction™ – DNA from Shell Casings and Rootless Hairs
Webinar Series
Use of Rapid DNA in Forensics
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