In Echoes Across Charlottesville, DNA linked crimes years before investigators could identify the person responsible. What was missing wasn’t evidence—it was a tool.

That tool is Investigative Genetic Genealogy (IGG).

In this special episode of Criminally Curious, host Michael Fleming sits down with Katie Thomas, co-founder and president of Moxxy Forensics, to explore how IGG works, where its limits are, and why ethics and consent are central to its use.

Moxxy Forensics is a nonprofit organization that partners with law enforcement agencies across the United States to help identify unknown victims and perpetrators of violent crimes—often in cases that have gone cold for decades. Their work does not replace police investigations or bypass the courts. Instead, it operates within strict legal, ethical, and privacy boundaries.

In this conversation, Katie explains:

• How IGG differs from traditional CODIS DNA testing
• Why consumer DNA services like Ancestry and 23andMe are not accessible to law enforcement
• How opt-in genealogy databases work—and why informed consent matters
• The role IGG played in cases like the Golden State Killer
• How modern forensic genealogy has helped identify victims, restore names, and give families long-overdue answers
• What IGG can—and cannot—do in real investigations

This episode is a companion to Echoes Across Charlottesville, but it also stands on its own as a clear, transparent look at one of the most powerful—and misunderstood—tools in modern criminal investigation.

If you’ve ever wondered how family trees can help solve crimes, where privacy lines are drawn, or how science and law intersect long after the headlines fade, this conversation provides the answers.

For more information on Moxxy Forensics, how to ethically support their work, or how to voluntarily upload your DNA to opt-in databases to help identify victims and perpetrators of violent crimes, visit https://www.moxxyforensics.com
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Criminally Curious is an investigative true-crime podcast examining cold cases, missing persons, and the space where public belief, institutional failure, and legal reality collide.

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