As someone who has watched Forensic Files and rewatched almost every episode multiple times, I would slightly disagree. It’s true that hair without the root usually doesn’t contain nuclear DNA that can be used to directly match a person. However, hair shafts can still contain mitochondrial DNA.
Mitochondrial DNA is inherited through the maternal line and can sometimes be recovered even when the root is missing. While it’s not as specific as nuclear DNA and usually can’t identify a single individual, it can still help investigators narrow things down to a maternal lineage.
As someone who has watched Forensic Files and rewatched almost every episode multiple times, I would slightly disagree. It’s true that hair without the root usually doesn’t contain nuclear DNA that can be used to directly match a person. However, hair shafts can still contain mitochondrial DNA.
Mitochondrial DNA is inherited through the maternal line and can sometimes be recovered even when the root is missing. While it’s not as specific as nuclear DNA and usually can’t identify a single individual, it can still help investigators narrow things down to a maternal lineage.