• 5too@lemmy.world
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    7 days ago

    In addition to the donated hair lacking DNA, they can only do DNA matching against samples they already have or could legally acquire (generally with a warrant).

    So if she’s not otherwise in their system or already a suspect, she should be in the clear!

    • WanderingThoughts@europe.pub
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      7 days ago

      Turns out you can use DNA from relatives too. And with large databases of ancestry this can go up to 4th cousins and narrows it down from there.

      • tempest@lemmy.ca
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        7 days ago

        Yeah this is exactly the thing.

        You can narrow down suspects from millions to hundreds because your cousin needed to see that they are 34 percent German or whatever.