How genetic genealogy helped solve a Bronx rape after two decades

WNYC News | Sep 23

For more than two decades after a stranger raped a 21-year-old college student in her Bronx apartment, police could not solve the crime. But a few years ago they used a new investigative technique and found a DNA profile on a genealogical site that prosecutors say belonged to one of the rapist's distant relatives. On Friday, a Bronx judge sentenced Jancys Santiago to 25 years in prison. The Bronx DA’s office says he’s the first person to be convicted by a New York jury in a sexual assault cold case using investigative genetic genealogy. 

WNYC’s Samantha Max shares what she heard in the courtroom.

Photo credit: Samantha Max/Gothamist

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