Dutch investigators get new DNA tool to help solve serious crimes
Dutch investigators can now compare DNA evidence collected at crime scenes with profiles stored in genealogical DNA databases, provided the individuals concerned have consented to their data being used for this purpose. The Public Prosecution Service (OM) said the method could help investigators identify distant relatives of potential suspects, as well as establish the identities of victims who are still unknown.
The OM, the Netherlands Forensic Institute (NFI), and the police began testing the use of genealogical DNA databases in cold cases in 2023. The pilot has now concluded, resulting in a new investigative method for serious criminal investigations in the Netherlands.
“The experience gained has led to the development of a completely new investigative tool for the Netherlands, which can be used in serious criminal cases. The pilot also produced useful leads in two of the six selected cases,” the OM said.
The OM said the 2023 pilot initially focused on two unsolved cases in the southern Dutch province of Limburg. “The so-called Heuvel murder and the case of an unidentified deceased woman whose body was found near the Pietersplas in Maastricht. Later that year, an investigating judge approved the use of genealogical DNA databases in these criminal cases.”
The pilot was later expanded to include a murder investigation in the Zeeland-West-Brabant region and three cases in Amsterdam involving unidentified people suspected of being victims of homicide.
The Amsterdam cases date back to 1992, when body parts belonging to a woman were discovered at multiple locations across the city, and 1995, when a woman's body was found in a ditch near Uilenstede. The third case concerns a man whose body was discovered in Flevopark in 1998.
Investigators have identified two potential relatives of the perpetrator in the Heuvel murder investigation through one of the genealogical DNA databases used in the pilot. Both individuals live in the United States. Dutch authorities have requested legal assistance from the U.S. to pursue the lead further by researching the family tree of the potential relatives.
The new method also produced a lead pointing to a potential perpetrator in the cold case from the Zeeland-West-Brabant region. “Given the importance of this ongoing investigation, we cannot yet disclose which case is involved,” the OM said.
The OM believes that searching genealogical DNA databases for potential relatives can help investigators make progress in otherwise difficult cases. It plans to keep using the technique in future investigations, subject to approval from an investigating judge in each case.