#genetic-genealogy

#genetic-genealogy

Investigative genetic genealogists are asking for the public's help to identify a child whose skull was seized from a Seabrook, N.H., business more than 30 years ago. The DNA Doe Project, a California-based nonprofit that builds DNA profiles from unidentified human remains, released a new facial reconstruction on Monday. The group also announced that the skull - believed to belong to a girl between the ages of 7 and 9 - has ancestral roots on the Greek island of Chios.

The release states that Nunnenman, previously known as "Western Reserve John Doe," was walking on Western Reserve Road in Boardman, Ohio, on Aug. 12, 1982, when he was struck by a car traveling in the same direction. The 18-year-old driver left the scene but later turned herself in. No identification was found on the victim, and the case soon went cold.

During the pandemic, Hunter (not his real name) went so stir-crazy from the isolation of lockdown that he bought an online DNA test, just to have something to do. Then his results came back indicating significant Ashkenazi heritage. That was odd: neither of his parents were Jewish-or so he thought. He called his mother, who confessed to having had an affair with a man Hunter had known, all his life, as a family friend, who would occasionally drop off hand-me-downs, clothes his sons had outgrown.

"Using modern genealogy testing to identify bone fragments from the 19th century is a powerful reminder of our unwavering commitment to resolving cases no matter how old."

The ability to bring answers to families - even generations later - shows how far science and dedication can take us,