DNA testing

A DNA test changed Michael Bennett’s life forever

Tina Ennis and Jill Lopez were 55 when they learned they were switched as babies at an Oklahoma hospital. Now they’re opening up about the aftermath

DNA recovered from the interior of a conch shell thought to have been used as a weapon in the 2001 killing of a Massachusetts woman has led to the indictment on a murder charge of the victim’s half-brother, prosecutors said.

DNA analysis has been around for decades, and it’s a crucial tool for solving violent crimes, but until recently, it was nearly impossible to collect DNA evidence left at shooting scenes. That changed with a process developed by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The day after Christmas in 2019, two men walked into a Denny’s in...

NBC4’s I-team has learned the man charged with Kristin Smart’s murder in San Luis Obispo, was DNA matched to the rape of a woman in Southern California, but was never prosecuted. Eric Leonard reports for NBC4 News at 4 p.m. on April 22, 2021.

A North Carolina woman who was adopted discovered via DNA test and newly-found relatives that her biological father was a mass murderer and put on the FBI’s most-wanted list in 2014, WECT reports.

The grandson of President Warren Harding and a lover has asked a court for permission to dig up the Republican’s remains

A Florida man was charged Monday with killing a man and raping a woman in a Los Angeles County motel more than 35 years ago.

A Northern California judge on Thursday approved prosecutors’ request to take more DNA samples from a man charged with being the infamous “Golden State Killer” who eluded arrest for decades. Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Steve White also told prosecutors to informally decide who is empowered to consider defense attorneys’ offer have Joseph James DeAngelo plead guilty in exchange for…

DNA results that used to take days are now available in just a matter of hours. At the district attorney’s office in Orange County, the new technology is making it easier to crack difficult cases. Lolita Lopez reports for the NBC4 News at 11 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 13, 2020.

When a body was found at a mobile home park during the Sandalwood Fire in Calimesa last October, family members of 89-year-old Lois Arvickson feared it was her. They were on the phone with the mother, grandmother and great-grandmother when the line went dead. They searched nearby shelters to see if Arvickson had survived, but couldn’t find her. It...

DNA results that used to take days are now available in just a matter of hours. At the district attorney’s office in Orange County, the new technology is making it easier to crack difficult cases. Lolita Lopez reports for the NBC4 News at 11 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 13, 2020. 

Two families with lifelong secrets unearthed because of home DNA test kits are now dealing with the truth. Here’s what their stories tell us about the shock that can come from new ancestry technology, and how to deal with it.