Remains Found in Alabama in 2012 Identified as Georgia Woman

 

Lily Moore

1-19-22

Forensics D Even 

Current Event 8 

 

            “Remains Found in Alabama in 2012 Identified as Georgia Woman.” AP NEWS, Associated Press, 13 Jan. 2022, https://apnews.com/article/alabama-georgia-forensics-talladega-a7dbd80119264490a41905aa4211caba. 

Recently, human remains, that are almost a decade old, were found at an abandoned house near the Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln Alabama during a race weekend. A deputy spotted an open door in a vacant home a few miles from the race track and stopped to investigate, locating the remains behind the house. There was no identification on the body and the remains were too decomposed to collect fingerprints. Last Thursday, officials stated that the remains have been identified of those of a Georgia woman. And thanks to DNA testing, scientists were able to confirm that the body was Jean Turner Ponders from Rosewell, Georgia. The Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences determined that Ponders was around the age of 67 and likely had lung cancer. Initially, when authorities had to identify the body, they entered information into a national database of missing persons, however, they didn’t find any matches. Once a TV network reported that Ponder’s sister had reported Jean missing after not hearing from her for 3 years. The Tallagada County town of Lincoln then used advanced DNA testing to match DNA from the body to relatives of Ponder. 

Throughout the article, I noticed many strengths and weaknesses. For example, one strength I found was that the article was nice and short, making it easier to read. Because the article was so short, it made it a lot easier to write the summary. The article was straight to the point and never got off-topic. However, one improvement I think the article could use is that the writer(s) can fix the organization/layout. Personally, I thought that many of the details were too spread out and the article was constantly switching from one piece of information to the next. If the same pieces of information were continuous throughout the article, then it would be a little less confusing and more organized. Another improvement the article could use is that I was hoping it would explain more about the advanced DNA testing that was used, explain what it is, how it’s used, and how it was significantly important towards this case. 

For the past several years, advanced DNA testing has improved more and more. Today, there are many DNA testing kits that can help to trace your roots and heritage, while also helping you to find relatives. Advanced DNA testing has helped many investigators as DNA can be used to identify criminals with incredible accuracy when biological evidence exists. DNA can be used to clear suspects and exonerate persons mistakenly accused or convicted of crimes. DNA testing has also been used to identify unknown victims/bodies. Overall, DNA testing is important for forensic scientists as it helps to identify unknown victims and criminals.