Virginia company creates image of Indiana girl’s killer
RESTON, Va. (WANE) – Fort Wayne police have new clues in the death of April Tinsley. Parabon, a DNA technology company that develops next-generation forensic and therapeutic products, released a composite of what Tinsley’s killer could look like today.
Tinsley was 8 when she was abducted from a south central Fort Wayne neighborhood back on April 1, 1988. Her body was found three days later in a ditch along a rural DeKalb County road. She had been sexually molested and suffocated.
Captain Paul Shrawder, a deputy chief of investigations at the Fort Wayne Police Department said Parabon NanoLabs reached out to FWPD to help find Tinsley’s killer.
Parabon used a DNA sample to create a Snapshot, the latest innovation in forensic DNA analysis.Click here to learn more about Parabon’s Snapshot.
“Up until now, without a direct match DNA has been worthless,” Parabon NanoLabs President Steven Armentrout, Ph.D. told WANE-TV. “With this technology there’s no reason to let a case go cold. With this technology you can generate a profile and immediately that can help you generate a list of suspects and narrow down a list of suspects you may have.”
Armentrout said his company has received funding from the United States Department of Defense. Snapshot was made available to law enforcement starting in December of last year, but Armentrout said it has not let to anyone’s arrest or conviction.
“The composite photo itself is not a specific mug shot of a person,” said Shrawder. “It’s a long way from identifying a particular person.”
Parabon’s labs use DNA to detect traits, such as sex, eye color, hair color, skin color, and whether or not the person has freckles or not.
The composite in the Tinsley case is of a white man between the age of 45 and 55. He likely has green eyes and brown to black hair.
With the information, Fort Wayne detectives can eliminate some of the 700 potential suspects and people police have talked to since 1988 regarding the case.
“Of the very large suspect list that we’ve had over the years, this gives us a way to eliminate some people off of that,” said Shrawder.
The Fort Wayne Police Department asks the public to provide any information regarding this case toaprilinfo@ci.ft-wayne.in.us or call 1-260-427-1404. More information on the April Tinsley case can be found atwww.FWPD.org.