NEW YORK (PIX11) — NYPD Forensics Chief Brian McGee was blunt in his assessment of the latest solved cold case involving rape suspect Yancys Santiago.
It is the first time Investigative Genetic Genealogy (IGG) has been used in New York State for a sexual assault case.
“I think it is huge. This is just another tool, and it is not some crazy science. When it comes to IGG, there are certain cases that only we can take on.”
The suspect, 48-year-old Yancys Santiago, formerly of the Bronx was arrested as he left his current home in Groveland, Florida. Santiago is accused of raping a 27-year-old woman in her Midtown Manhattan apartment in 2000, and a 21-year-old woman in her apartment in the Bronx in 2001.
NYPD detectives retrieved a water bottle Santiago left behind at his job and matched it with his DNA retrieved from the crime scene more than two decades ago.
“We were able to produce a person of interest. When we looked at that person of interest, Linda Doyle was able to build a family tree,” McGee said.
IGG technology allows detectives to take an unknown suspect’s DNA left behind at a crime scene, and search for any direct or familial match on one of the several open genetic databases, where users choose to allow law enforcement to use their genetic information in their criminal investigation.
John Jay College of Criminal Justice Biology Professor Dr. Nathan Lents says while valuable, the technology is indeed concerning.
“I think we should all be concerned by the idea that we could be picked by law enforcement, or dragnets simply by sharing some DNA with someone who might have been the perpetrator,” Lents said.
PIX11 News asked McGee specifically about this issue.
McGee insists his investigators do not haul a person of interest into custody, but instead wait for them to leave behind a DNA sample, like a water bottle. Santiago is now in custody, 23 years later.
Bail will be set earlier this week, at a $1 million, cash bond.
