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Artwork for Coffeehouse Crime
Coffeehouse Crime · September 3 · 22 min

5 Cold Cases Solved In 2020

Five cold cases that had haunted families for decades were finally solved in 2020, each brought to a close by the relentless march of forensic science. Advances in DNA technology, particularly investigative genetic genealogy, were the key to these breakthroughs. From identifying a Jane Doe found in 1978 to finally naming the killer of a teenage girl from 1980, these cases showed that justice does not have a time limit. In one, a man was linked to a murder through DNA collected from a discarded coffee cup. In another, a 40-year-old confession, long dismissed, was proven true. These are the cases where the past finally caught up.

0:00-22:40

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Five cold cases that had haunted families for decades were finally solved in 2020, each brought to a close by the relentless march of forensic science. Advances in DNA technology, particularly investigative genetic genealogy, were the key to these breakthroughs. From identifying a Jane Doe found in 1978 to finally naming the killer of a teenage girl from 1980, these cases showed that justice does not have a time limit. In one, a man was linked to a murder through DNA collected from a discarded coffee cup. In another, a 40-year-old confession, long dismissed, was proven true. These are the cases where the past finally caught up.