On Aug. 28, 2005, an unidentified body was found at a rest stop off Highway 7 between Rockwood and Guelph in southern Ontario.
Until recently, police had no answers about the person’s identity. However, on Friday, Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) revealed it was 41-year-old Tammy Eileen Penner of B.C.
Police said their work involved the help of sophisticated DNA testing by Othram, a forensic lab in Texas that specializes in genetic genealogy.
Othram used practically the only DNA technology of its kind to solve a decades-old case like this one.
David Mittelman, Othram’s chief executive officer, describes the technology as a unique system.
“We build technology that allows investigators to get certainty from crime scenes and from these kind of other forensics cases, some of which may involve human remains,” he said.
Using those tools means Othram can link DNA to anybody.
“Often it’s to identify victims, sometimes it’s to identify suspects to crimes, sometimes it’s both,” he said. “We’re able to access evidence that others have been unable to access in the past. We can get a lot more information.”
Penner, who had lived in Chilliwack and Abbotsford, was reported missing to the RCMP on Feb. 7, 2005.
In that case, a presumptive identification was made and used to locate Penner’s family members. Eventually, a family member’s DNA was used to confirm Penner’s identity.
Penner’s cause of death is still undetermined but is considered suspicious, OPP Det. Insp. Randy Gaynor told CBC News. She appeared to have had a broken left cheek, nose and left eye socket, which had healed.
“The investigative genetic genealogy that we’re utilizing, it’s a big advancement in policing to help us solve not only crimes, but just identifying people for their family members,” Gaynor said.
Never too late
Othram can identify someone many years later, working with tools — such as a cheek swab — that aren’t normally encountered in consumer DNA testing.
“Most DNA testing wasn’t designed with forensics in mind,” said Mittelman.
“In forensics, you usually have very little DNA — the DNA is damaged, it’s degraded, there could be multiple contributors, particularly if it’s a crime scene. So you have DNA that is generally not seen in DNA testing, certainly not in consumer DNA. You have to build specialized methods that work in forensics.”
The lab has since solved countless cold cases, including identifying the killer of Christine Jessop, a nine-year old girl who was kidnapped and raped in Queensville, Ont., in 1984.
Other high-profile Canadian cases cracked by Othram include the one involving Gordon Sanderson (Septic Tank Sam) — an Indigenous man who was taken from his family during the Sixties Scoop and killed in Alberta in 1977.
“We were able to connect his DNA profile to a close relative who was still alive,” Mittelman said.
He said Othram’s method is easily applicable to “everyone, not just someone.”
“It’s inclusive to all cases, inclusive of all kinds of scenarios and circumstances. That’s about as close as you can get to justice.”
No matter how much time has passed or where an individual is from, there’s always the possibility to find out more, Mittelman said.
“I tell people it doesn’t matter what decade the case came from, what geography, the historical origins of the person — everyone has a chance at getting answers.”
Listen | Othram CEO David Mittelman describes the technology used to identify Tammy Penner:
The Morning Edition – K-W5:44This U.S. forensic lab helped ID the body of a woman 19 years after it was found near Guelph, Ont.
Tammy Penner of Chilliwack, B.C., was 41 when she was reported missing in February 2005. Her body was found on Aug. 28, 2005, in a wooded area of a rest stop near Guelph, Ont. Her identity was only recently determined using sophisticated DNA technology by Texas-based lab Othram. CEO David Mittelman describes the technology as a unique system.