The Forever Witness: How Genetic Genealogy Solved a Cold Case Double Murder
Edward Humes
After 30 years, Detective Jim Scharf arrested a teenage couple's murderer—and exposed a looming battle between the pursuit of justice and the right to privacy. When Tanya Van Cuylenborg and Jay Cook were murdered during a trip to Seattle in the 1980s, detectives had few leads. The murder weapon was missing. No one witnessed any suspicious activity. And there was only a single handprint on the outside of the young couple’s van. The detectives assumed Tanya and Jay were victims of a serial killer—but without any leads, the case seemed forever doomed. In deep-freeze, long-term storage, biological evidence from the crime scenes sat waiting. Meanwhile, California resident CeCe Moore began her lifetime fascination with genetic genealogy. As DNA testing companies rapidly grew in popularity, she discovered another use for the technology: solving crimes. When Detective Jim Scharf decided to send the cold case’s decades-old DNA to Parabon NanoLabs, he hoped he would bring closure to the Van Cuylenborg and Cook families. He didn't know that he and Moore would make history. Anyone can submit a saliva sample to learn about their ancestry. But what happens after the results of these tests are uploaded to the internet? As lawyers, policymakers, and police officers fight over questions of consent and privacy, the implications of Scharf’s case become ever clearer. Approximately 250,000 murders in the United States remain unsolved today. We have the tools to catch many of these killers—but what is the cost?
Publication Year: 2022
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0As a reader I am always looking for both a compelling story and good writing regardless of the subject matter. As a former scientist, I appreciate this even more when I pick up a work of scientific non-fiction because I know how often these two elements are undervalued in the genre. In The Forever Witness, Edward Humes succeeds where many others fail and the result will rightfully appeal to a wide variety of readers.
Humes masterfully handles the complex topic of genetic genealogy by addressing its function, its history, its shortcomings, its seemingly miraculous results, and its ongoing controversies and implications. Any reader with a curiosity about the evolving use of DNA and genetic genealogy in solving crimes should read this book. Humes provides the clearest, most coherent, and approachable narrative on the topic available today. This book will answer many of the questions that have arisen for true crime followers since the arrest of The Golden State Killer, one of the first highly publicized, but poorly explained genetic genealogy success stories.
Despite the thorough nature of Humes’ exploration of genetic genealogy, a reader would be hard pressed to decide whether this book is about the science of DNA in criminology, or if it is a true crime story about the tragic murders of Tanya Van Cuylenborg and her boyfriend Jay Cook. Hume is, at heart, a gifted storyteller. He brings these two young people to life, immersing the reader in the frustration and anguish of their family and detectives as they struggle to solve the case. We are on the edge of our seats as it appears that the tenuous emergence of genetic genealogy may provide resolution. He expertly marries the science and the story so neither are lacking in this work. This is a title that should be a staple for true crime readers and science lovers alike.
My gratitude goes out to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for access to this ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.
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