Investigators last year turned to a controversial technique known as
familial searching, which seeks to identify the last name of potential suspects through a DNA analysis focusing on the Y chromosome. A promising “partial match” emerged between the semen sample and the genetic profile of Usry’s father, Michael Usry Sr. — a finding that excluded the father but strongly suggested one of his relatives had a hand in the young woman’s murder.
The results instantly breathed new life into a high-profile investigation in which Idaho Falls authorities have weathered intense criticism. But the story of how the police came to suspect the younger Usry and then eventually clear him of murder raises troubling questions about civil liberties amid the explosive — and increasingly commercial — growth of DNA testing.
The elder Usry, who lives outside Jackson, Mississippi, said his DNA entered the equation through a project, sponsored years ago by the Mormon church, in which members gave DNA samples to the Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation, a nonprofit whose forensic assets have been acquired by
Ancestry.com, the world’s largest for-profit genealogy company.
Ancestry.com received a court order last summer requiring it to reveal Usry’s name to the police, although it is listed as “protected” in the Sorenson
Y-chromosome database, according to court records obtained by The New Orleans Advocate. Following this new lead, the police mapped out five generations of Usry’s family, narrowing their focus to three men.
Only one, the New Orleans filmmaker, fit the mold of a plausible suspect, according to an application for a search warrant. Usry, 36, had ties to Idaho, including two sisters who attended a private university about 25 miles from the crime scene.