A recent cold case that was solved in Pierce County is highlighting the importance of CODIS ― The Combined DNA Index System — that lets federal, state, and local forensic labs exchange and compare DNA profiles to link crimes with violent offenders. The FBI wants to speed up the process of checking DNA and hosted a webinar on the process dubbed ‘Rapid DNA’.
In November, after 35 years, Tracy Whitney’s cold case was finally cracked thanks to genetic genealogy.
Tracey Whitney’s case
Whitney’s body was found in the Puyallup River near Sumner in August 1988. According to the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department, detectives investigated the case as a homicide after an autopsy revealed that her cause of death was asphyxia, caused by strangulation and probable smothering. The 18-year-old also had several blunt-force injuries and had likely been sexually assaulted. DNA samples were collected, but no suspect was found.
In 2005, a DNA profile of the suspect was uploaded to CODIS. Swabs taken from Whitney’s body back in 1988 were resubmitted for forensic genetic genealogy testing in March of 2022 by a retired detective sergeant. The results came back five months later, linking the DNA evidence with family lines leading back to the 1700s.
Police were then able to establish a family tree linking to a suspect: John Guillot Jr.
Unfortunately, Guillot Jr. had died just eight months prior from cancer. He was cremated after his death, which meant the DNA evidence gathered in 1988 could not be matched to any current DNA.
However, his son had also recently died, and detectives were able to use his DNA from the Medical Examiner’s office to affirm his father’s link to this crime.
While Guillot Jr. couldn’t be arrested or posthumously charged in Whitney’s death, the family was finally able to answer the decades-long question hanging over them.
Imagine if DNA could have been searched against a database the day that Tracy Whitney was found. The FBI says that could soon happen for law enforcement across the country.
The future of solving cold cases: Rapid DNA
Paul Butler is a law enforcement analyst who spoke during Monday morning’s webinar on CODIS.
“What we have is an incredible opportunity to exonerate the innocent but hold those who’ve committed these crimes accountable,” Butler said.
Rapid DNA is a proposal to allow law enforcement to quickly search CODIS – the DNA database used for solving crimes – in a matter of hours, opening up more than 20 million samples to investigators. The Rapid DNA initiative enrolls a qualified arrestee’s DNA during booking and the DNA would be searched against unsolved crimes within 24 hours.
Christ Loftis, spokesperson for the Washington State Patrol (WSP), agrees.
“That’s going to help local investigators, whether it’s our detectives of the Seattle Police Department or for some other law enforcement agency,” Loftis said. “They would be able to use this very quickly for investigative leads.”
Loftis said Rapid DNA would also likely increase the volume and speed by which information is communicated to WSP investigators and crime lab techs.
“Eventually all of that evidence comes to our crime lab so it can be validated and verified,” Loftis said.
He believes local law enforcement will probably tap into this program soon, as DNA has advanced and become more accurate and useful for law enforcement.
He admits that it may not help cold cases get solved immediately, but it could give investigators early leads to keep a case from going cold. The FBI says it will open up the database at some point this year, and Loftis thinks it could benefit all investigations,
“We always want to do whatever we can to as quickly as possible to determine who’s at fault, to find the guilty, to exonerate the innocent, but most importantly to bring some healing and closure to the victims of violent crimes,” Loftis said.
Tracy Whitney’s sister, Robin Whitney, is grateful for the healing and closure provided by the solving of her sister’s cold case. However, she believes it is likely John Guillot Jr. is responsible for other crimes, but since he is deceased and due to current legal restrictions, his DNA cannot be uploaded into CODIS.
“There are other unsolved homicides in the Puyallup area where he was living. I believe that CODIS could be the key to getting answers for the families of other victims,” Robin Whitney said.