DNA Samples Reopen 22 Cases
Orange County sheriff’s investigators have set a record in crime busting. “Cold hits” -- matching fresh DNA samples with evidence from old crime scenes -- created links to 22 stalled cases in a single day.
“Cold hits aren’t the be-all, end-all,” said Dean Gialamas, director of the Orange County Sheriff Department’s Forensic Science Services Division, which set the record Thursday, far surpassing its record of 14 matches one day in August. “It just means that [suspects] were there. Now it’s up to the investigators to find out why.”
Among the crimes were nine robberies, four rapes, two stolen vehicles and two attempted homicides.
Orange County Sheriff Michael S. Carona said the record proved the wisdom of Proposition 69, a 2004 initiative requiring felons under court jurisdiction to submit DNA samples.
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