The Forever Witness: How DNA and Genealogy Solved a Cold Case Double Murder

4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars | 385 ratings

Price: 15.75

Last update: 11-14-2024


About this item

“Thought-provoking true-crime thriller…the book raises urgent questions of balancing public and private good that we’ll likely be dealing with as long as the title implies.”—Wall Street Journal

A relentless detective and a civilian genealogist solve a haunting cold case—and launch a crime-fighting revolution that tests the fragile line between justice and privacy.

In November 1987, a young couple from the idyllic suburbs of Vancouver Island on an overnight trip to Seattle vanished without a trace. A week later, the bodies of Tanya Van Cuylenborg and her boyfriend Jay Cook were found in rural Washington. It was a brutal crime, and it was the perfect crime: With few clues and no witnesses in the vast and foreboding Olympic Peninsula, an international manhunt turned up empty, and the sensational case that shocked the Pacific Northwest gradually slipped from the headlines.

In deep-freeze, long-term storage, biological evidence from the crime sat waiting, as Detective Jim Scharf poured over old case files looking for clues his predecessors missed. Meanwhile, 1,200 miles away in California, CeCe Moore began her lifelong fascination with genetic genealogy, a powerful forensic tool that emerged not from the crime lab, but through the wildly popular home DNA ancestry tests purchased by more than 40 million Americans. When Scharf decided to send the cold case’s decades-old DNA to Parabon NanoLabs, he hoped he would finally bring closure to the Van Cuylenborg and Cook families. He didn’t know that he and Moore would make history.

Genetic genealogy, long the province of family tree hobbyists and adoptees seeking their birth families, has made headlines as a cold case solution machine, capable of exposing the darkest secrets of seemingly upstanding citizens. In the hands of a tenacious detective like Scharf, genetic genealogy has solved one baffling killing after another. But as this crime-fighting technique spreads, its sheer power has sparked a national debate: Can we use DNA to catch the murderers among us, yet still protect our last shred of privacy in the digital age—the right to the very blueprint of who we are?


Top reviews from the United States

Joan N.
5.0 out of 5 stars Very well written
Reviewed in the United States on February 27, 2023
This book is a captivating account of solving a decades old cold case with new techniques available. Humes writes in an engaging way, combining a detailed account of the investigation with interesting personal information about the victims and the detective assigned to the case. I had no idea DNA stored from that cold case could be used so much later to identify the murderer. And I had no idea how much information can be deduced from sites where people submit their own DNA to find relatives. While privacy laws may currently protect some, at the time of this cold case investigation, one could determine close relatives and finally the individual himself.

It is Humes' writing style that made this book so engaging. It is a great read and very informative on how genetic genealogy was and can be used to solve mysteries.
Kindle Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent followup after Unmaksed or I'll Be Gone in the Dark
Reviewed in the United States on March 5, 2024
The story of Tanya and Jay and the journey of their deaths being solved is a fascinating deep dive into the fragile line of moral and legal rights of DNA matching outside it's genealogy intents. Something Paul Holes explores in "Unmasked". A new way of finding murderers but at what cost in the long term will that have?
Getting to know Tanya and Jay and specifically their families and friends makes this story one that will pull your heartstrings while wanting to rip your hair out from the missed connections and difficult international border miscommunications.
An excellent book to dive into the world of DNA matching while having a couple who root you in the reality of what this does to help put old bones to rest.
LyndaA
5.0 out of 5 stars Great read, especially if you are into DNA and genealogy or crime solving
Reviewed in the United States on December 19, 2023
It was a good read. I enjoyed the book. The plot moved along well, not too slow and not super fast. It is well written. Combined DNA genealogy and crime solving. Both are interests of mine. It is a little different than most crime novels, the DNA part is extremely fascinating to me.
Coury Rust
5.0 out of 5 stars So sad for the two victims..but gives hope for others.
Reviewed in the United States on April 10, 2024
Reading this book. Reading about Tanya and Jay, and Detective Scharf solving a 31 year old cold case using DNA from the time well preserved is unbelievable. Edward Humes really captured through his writing and research the emotions, the torment and pain that everyone went through. With the events unfolding leading up to the inevitable murders I almost could picture the victims and the events that led to their deaths. The research and back story of genetic genealogy CeCe Moore and Paragon is truly remarkable.
Susan
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent read
Reviewed in the United States on January 22, 2023
I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in how DNA and genealogy are being used together to solve violent crimes. The explanations are clear and the major example which provided the story line effectively illustrates them, all in a well-written package. I especially value the discussions of the evolution of the ethical questions surrounding the issue.
The Nerdy Narrative
4.0 out of 5 stars Riveting true crime read
Reviewed in the United States on November 29, 2022
I want to begin with pointing out that this is a nonfiction book on how genetic genealogy was used to solve cold cases - it is extremely easy to forget this as author Edward Humes starts off by introducing readers to the double murder cold case of Tanya Van Cuylenborg and Jay Cook. While it's very detailed and factual, it reads like a fictional work - too heinous to be real.

I did request the ARC for this book on NetGalley and was approved, so much gratitude to NetGalley and the publisher, Dutton.

If you're someone like me who watches every crime documentary that can be found, read thrillers and true crime novels like nobody's business - I believe this book would be right up your alley. Edward Humes writes this narrative in the same style as many of the best documentaries I've seen - I was riveted. A young couple on an overnight errand for the boy's father vanish. The families knew within hours that something was wrong because these two young people were like clockwork checking in with their parents. Both were found murdered and the killer or killers left no trace except a partial palm print on the van.

Thirty years later, technology had advanced, sure - but more importantly - so had DNA databases where people submitted saliva samples in order to trace their ancestry. With the help of some forward thinking individuals, genetic genealogists began solving cold cases....but what does using these databases mean as far as privacy??

I will admit, there were a few chapters that delved heavily into explaining the process of how genetic genealogy began, what it was used for, how it worked - that made my eyes glaze over. I wanted to get back to solving the case of Tanya and Jay! I actually treated it like it was two separates pieces - one was the research as to how this new process was instrumental in solving cold cases and the other was the double murder cases. Once I compartmentalized it that way - I was once again immersed.

This was my first book to read by Edward Humes, but it will NOT be the last. I've already been researching his backlog and picking out my next one. I decided on MISSISSIPPI MUD as I'm a born and raised Mississippi girl and very familiar with the Biloxi area and Strip this story centers around.

I can tell you one thing I've learned by all the crime books, documentaries and this story - I am so glad I live in the age we're in today - everything is caught on camera. To see how easy it was for these serial killers back in the 70s, 80s, and 90s - I don't know how folks slept at night!
Greg
5.0 out of 5 stars Familial DNA case that was very well written
Reviewed in the United States on October 19, 2023
The end result of this type of story is getting very common but it was an extremely interesting case and the author did a fantastic job of telling the story.
Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars It’s a riveting excellent book
Reviewed in the United States on September 2, 2023
I loved this book. It was well written and informative. It read like a good detective novel! I highly recommend it.

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