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How police solved the century-old mystery of ‘the woman in the well’
Investigators used genetic genealogy to identify Alice Spence, solving Canada’s oldest cold case with a body found in a Saskatoon well in 2006.
- This year, Saskatoon police identified Alice Burke, also known as Alice Spence, using investigative genetic genealogy and DNA mapping, marking Canada’s oldest case solved this way.
- Analysis of clothing and remains showed she died before 1920, and her body was found in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in 2006, with no missing-person reports hampering police.
- Cindy Camp and family supplied DNA in summer, aiding genealogy as Sgt. Darren Funk said, 'She figured that we should have about 5,000 genetic relatives, not just the seven,' while extended relatives in the United States and Europe were found.
- Police said the likely perpetrator is long dead, limiting prosecution, and Sgt. Darren Funk declined to speculate, saying such talk would be purely speculative and inconsequential.
- After training on genealogy techniques, Sgt. Darren Funk, Saskatoon police, renewed the probe in January and handed work to Toronto police for their expertise, following lessons from Joseph George Sutherland.
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Winnipeg Free Press+23 Reposted by 23 other sources
How police solved the century-old mystery of 'the woman in the well'
Breaking News, Sports, Manitoba, Canada
·Winnipeg, Canada
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How police solved the century-old mystery of ‘the woman in the well’ – 105.9 The Region
REGINA — Cindy Camp’s great-grandmother was only a name on the family tree until police called. An investigator told her it was believed Alice Spence had been killed more than 105 years ago, her body dumped in a well in Saskatchewan. Camp and her daughters were asked in the summer to provide DNA samples. They matched. “I was stunned, in disbelief,” Camp said in a phone interview from her home in Sherwood Park, Alta. She said her father knew noth…
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Total News Sources30
Leaning Left22Leaning Right1Center3Last UpdatedBias Distribution85% Left
Bias Distribution
- 85% of the sources lean Left
85% Left
L 85%
11%
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