Buried Evidence Under Years of Routine

Echoes in the Dark Investigating Unseen Crime · Dec 2, 2025 · 10m

The 1985 disappearance of Tanya Van Cuylenborg and Jay Cook remained unsolved for over three decades, with investigators unable to generate viable leads despite evidence collection. The case was eventually solved through genetic genealogy in 2018, when investigators used DNA databases to identify a suspect who had evaded traditional investigative methods. This episode explores how crimes can persist in investigative limbo when conventional techniques reach their limits, the emergence of genetic genealogy as a revolutionary investigative tool, and the ethical implications of using ancestry…