A connection between the investigation into the Nancy Guthrie case and the Gilgo Beach murders has come to light. A San Francisco forensics lab that helped crack the Long Island serial killer case is believed to be involved in the search for answers after Nancy’s potential abduction.
Earlier this month, Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann who admitted to killing eight women between 1993 and 2010, pleaded guilty. His defense was unable to overcome groundbreaking DNA evidence collected from rootless hair samples.
“I am pretty confident that they will want to use the lab that they have been extremely successful with, which is Astrea,” said CeCe Moore, one of the nation’s leading genetic genealogists at Parabon Nanolabs in Virginia, according to Fox News. “DLI has been working to refine their own rootless hair analysis, but I haven’t seen any successful cases from them yet.”
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Moore was talking about DNA Labs International, the Florida lab that the Pima County Sheriff’s Department initially sent the samples to in the days after Nancy went missing. With the materials in the FBI’s hand now, Astrea Forensics could be on the shortlist of specialized private labs that might be able to help.
‘By far the safest option’
In Heuermann’s case, the lab developed a DNA profile from rootless hair evidence, Moore claimed that she has been personally involved in six successful cases in which Astrea did similar work.
“The FBI used them for the Gilgo case,” she told Fox News Digital. “So they have a lot of confidence in Astrea.”
An FBI official recently told the outlet that a hair sample was among the evidence collected from Nancy’s home and sent to a private lab in Florida by the Pima County Sheriff’s Department in the days after her suspected abduction.
“If there’s a chance they can solve Nancy’s case through this lab, I believe without question it should be sent there,” said Allison Winter, a social worker and psychotherapist who has been working with the Heuermann family.
Meanwhile, Moore said, “Sending it to Astrea, where there is a proven track record, is by far the safest option.”
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Ben Williamson, assistant director of public affairs at the FBI, said that the FBI had wanted the sample more than two months ago
“This is not new evidence or information,” he wrote on X Monday. “FBI asked to test this DNA 2 months ago with the same technology we’ve always had — when the local sheriff instead sent it to a private lab. Any further developments we will share as soon as appropriate.”
Months after Nancy went missing, there has been no update on her whereabouts, and no suspect has been identified. While the Guthrie family has been tormented by the uncertainty of the case’s outcome, her daughter Savannah Guthrie previously even admitted that her mom may be dead.