unknown dna profile to possible relatives and, therefore, possible, last names. detective wade was skeptical, at first. it kind of sounded like smoke and mirrors, to me. but i thought, well, i m going to give it a shot. i mean, i want to solve this case. yeah. she sent dr. fitzpatrick the two dna profiles from michella and jenni s crime scenes. and she did her magic. she entered into her genealogy databases. there were no exact matches, but there were some possible family names. i certainly dug into the names and there wasn t anybody who jumped off the page. the only name that seemed remotely interesting was washburn, because there was a guy, by that name, in the case file. but he wasn t a suspect. he was a witness. he was the jogger who told police he saw
wade was just 11 years old when two young girls in her hometown were murdered within a matter of months. as the years passed, wade s obsession with the cases grew. now, she was a detective, and hoped advances in dna technology would help her unmask the killer. but what she was about to learn would completely transform the investigation. here, again, is keith morrison with evil was watching. michella was so fierce. there really wasn t anything that intimidated her at all. she just took life, head on. it never left them. the spirit that was their sister followed them all around their growing-up years, and when they had families of their own. and they knew, always did, that their mom had lost a piece of herself. be all together, in this family environment. and then, just this closing would come down over her. yeah and she d just bawl. yep. you want mom back.
someone in point defiance park who resembled the sketch of michella s killer. but even more confusing, dr. fitzpatrick s genealogy research had linked the name washburn to the dna in jenni s murder. which detective wade new happened months after washburn phoned in that tip about michella. so, it was all just a fluke, probably. and so, it was something that i kept in the back of my mind, as we continued on with the investigation. she also went to a company called parabon, that turned dna profiles into computer generated images. showing what the suspects probably looked like. in 2016, armed with those snapshots. these two are solvable. the tacoma police department told the public they were searching for two killers, and needed help to find them. jenni s sister theresa was hopeful. i didn t know, exactly, where it was going to end up. but i knew it was a big step in the case. we had a tip line open. and we got multiple tips on the
jenni s mom. by that time, had you grown pretty close to pattie? uh-huh. yeah. she is a very special gal. i told her mother, i m going to adopt her. before she left, wade sent one last, small batch of samples to the dna lab. no point, really, in waiting for the results. we are down to the last 18. i m doubtful that we re going to get a match. so, she said good-bye and went on with her life. and 25 days later. my phone buzzed, and i looked down. it was her replacement on the cold-case unit. i answer the phone, and he said, there s a match on jennifer bastian. i asked, who who is it? what s the name? and he said, robert washburn? and i was like, no way. i knew exactly who it was. but i just couldn t believe it. robert washburn. he was the guy who phoned in a tip about michella s murder. he was never a suspect. on her short list, only because of that genealogy analysis. why did washburn s name end up on the list to be tested for dna? because of his last name.
years, in 20 years. her method can link an unknown dna profile to possible relatives and, therefore, possible, last names. detective wade was skeptical, at first. it kind of sounded like smoke and mirrors, to me. but i thought, well, i m going to give it a shot. i mean, i want to solve this case. yeah. she sent dr. fitzpatrick the two dna profiles from michella and jenni s crime scenes. and she did her magic. she entered into her genealogy databases. there were no exact matches, but there were some possible family names. i certainly dug into the names and there wasn t anybody who jumped off the page. the only name that seemed remotely interesting was washburn, because there was a guy, by that name, in the case file. but he wasn t a suspect. he was a witness. he was the jogger who told police he saw someone in point defiance park who resembled the sketch of