IDK. Does it take over a year to figure this stuff out once you have the DNA? Don’t they have, like, a computer?
As is the case in certain political circles these days, it seems like every excuse under the sun made up to explain why it’s been years with no announcement about this alleged Vallejo DNA. I still call BS until proven otherwise. As long as everyone is anesthetized and waits patiently for DNA there’s no pressure on the police to do any "old-fashioned detective work." And from my own experience with them, I’m sure this suits them just fine lol.
Mike Rodelli
Author, The Hunt for Zodiac; 3.9 stars on Amazon and
In The Shadow of Mt. Diablo: The Shocking True Identity of the Zodiac Killer, a second edition in print format. 4.3 Amazon stars and great Editorial reviews. Twitter:@mikerodelli
IDK. Does it take over a year to figure this stuff out once you have the DNA? Don’t they have, like, a computer?
If they get a match to a distant cousin they still have to manually sort through all the possible family lines, since the common ancestor between the cousin and the donator of the sample could be several generations back. Plus there are probably many gaps in the lineages depending on how many other DNA samples are in the database. I also wonder if the recent "opt in" vs "opt out" changes to genealogy databases has increased the difficulty for LE.
IDK. Does it take over a year to figure this stuff out once you have the DNA? Don’t they have, like, a computer?
If they get a match to a distant cousin they still have to manually sort through all the possible family lines, since the common ancestor between the cousin and the donator of the sample could be several generations back. Plus there are probably many gaps in the lineages depending on how many other DNA samples are in the database. I also wonder if the recent "opt in" vs "opt out" changes to genealogy databases has increased the difficulty for LE.
Doranchak is exactly correct. That doesn’t mean Rodelli is wrong. Their positions aren’t mutually exclusive. However, we have to remember that Zodiac is an older case with less reliable DNA samples. There wasn’t a puddle of semen, for example. I have never done genealogical DNA work, but I would imagine it has to be more difficult the older the sample is. Every generation one goes back in time increases the number of ancestors by a factor of four at a minimum. Also, the possibility of unknown (outside) offspring becomes greater, which makes finding descendents even more difficult. Likewise, if the research takes investigators into the ancient past of foreign countries the availability and reliability of foreign records creates new headaches.
I’ve done work in the field of forensic DNA. It’s not even close to the complexity of genealogical DNA research. With the age of this case, it wouldn’t surprise me if it took several years to track down everybody. It also wouldn’t surprise me to find out that Rodelli is correct, and the DNA is just an illusion to placate the internet masses. If I had to put money on it, I’d bet the former, but not with much confidence either way.
