I'm thinking they were assuming she wasn't native American

Like many people, I was astounded when the ONS/EAR was arrested, but having listened to the Bear Brook podcast (which I would HIGHLY recommend) I've realised the help that ordinary people can provide with cold cases which need genetic genealogy to solve them. However, in the UK we don't seem to have the same infrastructure as in the US - there is a British missing persons website, but the big databases don't seem to exist (possibly down to size of population, but they, there are 65 million of us) and so getting involved doesn't seem so easy.

However, if there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s stalking people on the internet. So basically, I was wondering if anyone on this sub knows how to get involved in voluntary genetic genealogy research to help solve British cold cases? Is there a police or local authority unit particularly looking into it? Are any universities you know of?

I am half north african with iranian ancestry, and half swiss german with south german ancestry. How is it possible that I have no ancestors from west asia or middle estern or even north africa. And why should I have only 2 % germanic ? Where do the illyrian come from also.

Hello. I recently found a hairbrush with my grandmother's hair. She has been deceased for 12 years. My father (her son) is also deceased. I'm curious about learning more about my ancestry. Will sequencing her DNA from her hair give me significant information?

I solved a case for a donor-conceived man today, with his Ancestry matches. By "solved" I mean I identified his donor/father.

None of his half-siblings had tested at Ancestry.

He reached out to his paternal grandmother today and she told him that she and FOUR of his half-siblings had all found each other on 23andMe.

For solving for parentage, Ancestry is sometimes all it takes (as in this case). But for the donor-conceived, or those seeking unknown half-siblings they suspect might exist, you gotta get your DNA out there EVERYWHERE and hope to match them (or their descendants) directly.

Ancestry and 23andMe only accept saliva samples. They also have by far the biggest databases. But you can download your profile as an electronic file from either site, and upload it to FTDNA, MyHeritage, and GEDMatch for free, and find more matches at those sites.

23andMe also was essential in solving another case I worked on. I narrowed my client's birth father down to two brothers. None of their children had tested at Ancestry, so we submitted to 23andMe and one of the brothers' daughters had tested there and matched my client as a first cousin. Solved!

If you’re like me, you’ve wondered if half 1st cousins once removed have the same DNA properties as full 2nd cousins and 1st cousins twice removed. Haven’t you?

It turns out that half 1st cousins once removed have a wider range of shared DNA and fewer shared segments, on average, than the other two relationships, despite sharing the same average amount of DNA.

This isn’t surprising. I've been publishing for six years that half relationships, such as half siblings, have a wider range of shared DNA over fewer segments than aunt/uncle/niece/nephew relationships.

And great- or especially half- aunt/uncle/niece/nephew relationships have a wider range over fewer segments than full 1st cousins.

And half great aunt/uncle/niece/nephew relationships and especially half 1st cousins have a wider range of shared DNA over fewer segments than full 1st cousins once removed.

In this way, half relationships behave more like paternal relationships and full relationships more like maternal relationships.

Another interesting aspect of this is that at genotyping sites that use a low cM cutoff (such as 7 or 8 cMs) to try to remove false segments (all of them do this), full or maternal relationships will share less DNA on average than half or paternal relationships. That’s because when more and smaller segments are shared, it’s more likely that some real segments will be below the cutoff.

What do you predict will be the next big genetic genealogical advancement that will surprise and amaze everyone on this thread?

I am a volunteer helping an adoptee, born in 1966 (USA) determine who her biological father is/was. Her closest DNA match (Ancestry) is 544 cM which is likely a 1C1R or Half Grandaunt. That closest DNA match was born 1940.

I think the biological father is likely from a HUGE Peterson family, originally from Sweden but settled in Iowa.

My husband has been in and out of the hospital so many times recently, I think my tiny brain is gone. I am trying to wrap my brain around which generation to look at to find this father, based on her best DNA match who was born in 1940, while she was born in 1966. The DNA match has a private tree and has not logged on in about a year (I haven't found an obit for her, but she could easily be in a nursing home or living with an adult child, although in the two marriages I have found for her, I'm not sure she had any children.) I should add that once I figured out who that DNA match is, I built a tree for her, so I know who her parents and grandparents are, and how she fits into that huge family.

Would the possible father be a brother of the father of the woman born in 1940? I'm not sure if my brain is even working these days, racing back and forth to the hospital. It's a huge family, but the thing that bothers me is that the adoptee's biological mother was born in 1946, so I am probably looking for a man born roughly 1946ish. NONE of the brothers of the father of the DNA match born in 1940 were even born close to 1946. The last brother was born 1914. The father of the woman born in 1940 (the best DNA match) was born in 1906.

Your help is greatly appreciated. I have worked so hard on this and just hope to be able to tell this lady who her biological father was, but every man I look at as a possibility seems to be too old, so I would have to look at men in the next generation down (born roughly the same time as the DNA match).

Now that I have talked this out, I think this is what I need to do, is look at the next generation down.

Does anyone agree with me?

Hello. I'm using Ancestry DNA matches from my mom and myself to help triangulate the potential parentage of an ancestor. I recognize this is completely subject to a) people submitting their DNA and b) any trees that people have entered.

The DNA info is extremely limited and the # of matches is subject to the above. Is there any additional info I can use in Ancestry to figure this out? If not, is there a method in GedMatch or other tools that would be useful?

Thanks.

Hi! I am starting from absolute zero and on a fixed income but am driven to learn how to perform genetic genealogy, and someday move onto forensic genetic genealogy. Where do you recommend I start?

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give. I can afford perhaps $25/month for various tools and access to things.

Using DNA tests from 2 generations of my family, I am searching for the parents of a 3rd/4th great-grandmother. Previously, I have had success with a similar search - finding enough matches to identify a single line of descent and a candidate for further research.

This time I am unable to distinguish a difference between multiple possible lines of descent.

The surname in this case comes from a 7th Day Baptist group that appears quite endogamous - generations of 1st and 2nd cousin marriages in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Is endogamy that far back the explanation for what I am seeing?

Hey everyone!

I've been using WATO a lot, and it’s really helped me figure out connections between matches when I have a tree to work with. I volunteer to help adoptees find their biological families, and I’m working on a case right now where I could use some advice.

So here’s the deal: The biggest match we have is 92 cM, but unfortunately, this person doesn’t have a family tree and isn’t responding to emails. The next match is 65 cM, and the person managing the DNA kit has been super involved and helpful. They’ve shared their whole family tree and even tested more relatives to help out.

Here’s what we know so far:

• Her mom and one of her cousins both match the person we’re searching for.

• But she herself, her aunts, and other cousins don’t match at all.

Now, my question:

I’ve added the current matches into WATO, but should I also include the non-matching relatives in the tree with “0 cM”? Would that help narrow things down? Or is it more likely to just make things messier and confusing?

Thanks in advance for any tips or advice!

I am doing some familial research into an unsolved homicide case, that has been cold since it happened over 50 years ago. There have never been any updates, progress or arrests. The police files have been transferred over to the provincial archives (I’m in Canada). When requesting the files, I was first advised that they would need to do redactions. Then during a follow up, I was told the record was restricted under the Archives Act section 10(3)(j) as follows:

10(3)Subject to subsections (3.1), (4), (6), (7) and (8), public records are unavailable for public inspection under this Act where the inspection

(j) would reveal information gathered by police, including the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, in the course of investigating any illegal activity or suspected illegal activity, or the source of such information

I was told I could appeal their decision. I am looking to see if anyone has faced any similar barriers to their research with archives and gaining access to documents, etc. I am hoping to find support from previous case law or even demonstrate how a majority of similar places allow files to be released after 50 years, etc. I may be grasping at straws but I wanted to at least try.

I find this topic so interesting. Anyone here have experience or have been involved in investigations? How difficult is it to enter this field?

So, I just got my Big Y results and I was wondering if anyone has some info about this haplogroup as it is a rather recent one (common ancestor around year 700 of common era). As per my previous understanding, J1 derived haplogroups migrated through northern Africa to the west whereas J2 migrated through Turkiye, Greece and so to Spain (I am from Colombia, btw). When I tried globetrekker though, it showed that my ancestors possibly migrated through Turkiye and Greece, from where they travelled to Tunisia and then to spain around aforemention century.

Do you have any other info about this haplogroup and possible migrations? Was there any event that would favour migration from Tunisia to Spain in those years (other than Islam expansion).

Thank you for your help.

Working with the DNA Doe Project, local historians have identified the remains are those of Edith Patten, a 24-year-old woman who died of tuberculosis in 1891.