Following the arrest of a Washington State University graduate student in relation to the Nov. 13 murders of four University of Idaho students, police have shared that the arrest was made possible thanks to a genealogy website.
According to a law enforcement source who spoke with Fox News about the arrest, authorities matched DNA from the crime scene with a sample collected through a genealogy testing website.
The sample was reportedly sent to the site by a family member of the suspect, Bryan Kohberger. However, it was not shared which site law enforcement worked with.
Fox News spoke with several ancestry and genealogy sites, all of which have varying methods for communicating with police. For example, 23andMe shared that it does “not share customer information with law enforcement.”
However, GEDmatch shared that it has an “opt in” feature on its site to have samples "compared with kits submitted by law enforcement to identify perpetrators of violent crimes," according to GEDmatch's website.
Kohberger was arrested last Friday after being found in his home state of Pennsylvania. He has since been extradited back to Idaho, and charged with the murder of Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle.
As of Wednesday night, Kohberger was booked into the Latah County, Idaho, jail. He is expected to make his first court appearance as early as Thursday.
Still it is not clear if Latah County authorities have scheduled any hearings. But if Kohberger does appear in court, the first hearing would likely see a judge decide whether or not he has adequate legal representation, as well as scheduling future hearings, CNN reported.
It could also mean that authorities would release the probable cause affidavit, which was used to justify his arrest.
Key details have yet to be released in the case, including Kohberger’s relationship to the victims and possible reasons for the killings.
Information has been kept under lock and key due to Idaho law that limits what authorities can release before they appear in court, according to Moscow Police Chief James Fry.
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