Blood Drop in Simpson Case Was Never Lost, Police Say

The blood drop that O.J. Simpson’s lawyers have recently described as missing has turned up in the Los Angeles Police Department’s evidence control unit--right where it was supposed to be. But there’s not much of it left.

Simpson’s defense team said this week that they had not been able to track down the swatch containing a drop of blood lifted from Nicole Brown Simpson’s back gate two weeks after she and a friend were murdered June 12, 1994. Their documents indicated it had been checked out to the district attorney’s office.

But Los Angeles Police Lt. Anthony Alba said Tuesday that the drop, cataloged as Item 117, is “fully accounted for” and remains in police custody. “It’s not missing,” he said. “There’s no conspiracy.”