DNA From A Genealogy Website Helps Solve A Cold Case

After using the database of a genealogical testing website to match DNA evidence, authorities in Tampa Bay said they arrested a suspect in a 14-year-old rape case.

After 14 years of searching, the police had no suspects in the case of the young woman who was assaulted, and the case went cold. However, authorities were able to track down 44-year-old Jared Vaughn after giving his DNA to a genealogy website.

“The detectives worked the case just like it was a brand-new case,” said assistant Tampa police chief Ruben Delgado. “with the help of [Florida Department of Law Enforcement] and the science we were able to develop a suspect.”

According to the police reports, the rape took place after the Gasparilla Pirate Festival in 2007, when a student of Tampa University decided to return to her dorm.

That’s when authorities believe the suspect, Jared Vaughn, offered to walk her back to her dorm room and proceeded to assault the victim. He “sexually battered her, then left,” said Delgado. Tampa Police Department collected DNA at the time but did not find any matches.

According to the police, in 2018, Florida became the first state to establish its own forensic genealogy unit, which allowed them to revisit potential matches for unsolved cases.

Vaughn, now 44, was identified as a possible suspect by a lab, so police officers traveled to West Virginia, where he lived, to conduct another DNA test, which yielded a one-in-700-billion match.

“The victim now can have some closure in her life,” Delgado said.

So far, forensic genealogy has assisted in resolving two cold cases in Tampa and seven in the state of Florida.

“It has taken 14 years for resolution in this case, but it’s something that was important to us and was important to the victim, to get some closure in this case,” said Delgado.

Vaughn turned himself on for charges of sexual battery.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s Special Agent Mark Brutnell urged people to allow law enforcement to access their DNA.

 

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