Baylor Alumna is Solving Mysteries with DNA

In 1974 in Fort Worth, 17-year-old Carla Walker had just attended a high school dance with her boyfriend, Rodney McCoy. The two were sitting talking in his car when the door was flung open by an unknown man who attacked them both. McCoy was pistol-whipped and lost consciousness, and when he awoke, his girlfriend was nowhere to be seen.

A frantic search began, but three days later Carla Walker’s dead body was found in a culvert. The autopsy showed she’d been alive for two days while being beaten, tortured and raped before eventually being strangled to death.

Police were able to obtain samples of bodily fluids from the crime scene, but back in 1974 the DNA technology which could have used those samples to identify the killer simply didn’t exist. It was not until 46 years later –– in September 2020 –– when the DNA evidence found in Walker’s clothing was sent to a Texas biotechnology company in The Woodlands near Houston called Othram Inc., which specializes in analyzing hard-to-identify DNA samples. 

Othram, the company started by Baylor Arts & Sciences alumna Kristen Mittelman (BS ’00) and her husband in 2018, was able to use its state-of-the-art technology match the DNA found on Walker ­­–– not to Carla’s former boyfriend Rodney McCoy, but to 77-year-old Glen Samuel McCurley, who had been interviewed by police shortly after the murder but eliminated as a suspect after he passed a polygraph test. The DNA match helped lead to McCurley entering a guilty plea in the murder, which earned him a life sentence. 

Genealogical gems

Othram scientists have developed state-of-the-art technology that uses DNA to identify human remains, resolve missing persons cases and help solve some of the 250,000 criminal cases that have gone cold over the years in the U.S. 

This trademarked technology –– called Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing –– takes DNA from unidentified remains and uses genealogical research to find a match with DNA samples on file from persons in the same family group, who can then shed light on the missing relative it might belong to. DNA samples from a crime scene or from the remains of an unknown person are compared with DNA that has been donated to publicly available genetic databases. 

When a promising comparison is made in this way, genealogical research can be done by trained investigators to identify potential relatives and build out family trees of the unknown person. 

“We can build a DNA profile that has hundreds of thousands of markers, and then upload that profile to a [public genetic database] to find any matches to relatives. We can find a sixth cousin, a fifth cousin –– we usually find many matches because we’re all related to some degree somewhere,” Mittelman said. “We will then take all those matches and use genealogy to figure out in a family tree where a victim or the perpetrator belongs. We give those results to the law enforcement agency that engaged us and let them know that we think [the person] belongs in a certain family tree at a certain generation.”

Mittelman said if law enforcement agents find enough evidence to corroborate the genealogical investigation results, they can then get a warrant to collect a suspect’s DNA and make a definitive confirmation. 

A successful example

Every case of identifying remains through genealogical DNA is different, but a fairly recent example might serve as a somewhat typical Othram success story. In 1993, a murdered man’s remains were discovered in Orlando, Florida, but his identity remained a mystery for more than three decades. In 2022, Othram scientists were able to develop a DNA extract from forensic evidence in the case, then used genome sequencing to build a comprehensive DNA profile for the unknown homicide victim.

Using the profile created by Othram’s forensic genetic genealogy team, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office developed new leads in the case, and a follow-up investigation led them to genetic relatives of the victim. He was finally identified as the long-missing Richard Wick, who was 48 years old when he was murdered in early 1993.

Othram has played a significant role in identifying many such sets of remains, but Mittelman said their long-range goal is to have the company’s DNA technology adopted by crime labs across the country so that an even larger number of cases can be resolved closer to home.

“Our hope is not to try and solve every case on our own,” she said. “We hope to disseminate this technology to every state laboratory across the country, so that everyone is using the right method to help identify these cases.”

Othram is sometimes contacted by family members who want to hire them to look for a missing loved one or help solve a criminal case, but the company will always direct them to contact an appropriate law enforcement agency and request that the agency hire Othram to work on the case.

“We chose early on to work only with law enforcement because they’re the custodians of the evidence,” Mittelman said. “We work with local, state and federal law enforcement across the United States, including the FBI. We also work with many state agencies and labs, as well as the Department of Defense.”

Legislative support

Mittelman said that Othram helped solve more than 1,500 cases during 2023 alone. The company’s workload might become even more formidable if recent developments in Florida are replicated in other states, or nationwide.

On April 26, 2024, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law a bill creating the state’s Forensic Investigative Genetic Genealogy Grant Program. When it took effect on July 1 of this year, the bill established a grant program within Florida’s Department of Law Enforcement designed to help state and local agencies or medical examiner’s offices get access to the same advanced forensic technology used by Othram.

“This is where the bottleneck has been. The technology is here, and it’s robust and it works, but there’s been no government funding for this new DNA testing,” Mittelman said.

The Florida legislation, which provides $500,000 in funding each year to pay for forensic genetic genealogy searches, is aimed at paring down the state’s 19,000 cold cases –– three-quarters of which come with DNA evidence needing further analysis. It’s hoped that many of these cold cases, which have remained cold in part because of lack of funds, can now move forward toward a conclusion.

“This is the first legislation ever across the United States to make this precedent –– we’re very excited,” Mittelman said. “For the first time there’s a pot of funding for forensic genetic genealogy that will go to law enforcement agencies. We have federal legislation along these same lines that is still pending.”

That federal legislation –– called the Carla Walker Act, after the Texas teenager whose killer was identified in part through help from Othram –– has been introduced in Congress by U.S. Senator John Cornyn of Texas. If passed, the legislation will create federal funding to allow agencies nationwide to use Othram’s advanced technology to solve cold cases.

“This can bring closure to families to know finally what the true story is,” Cornyn said during a roundtable discussion about the bill. 

Bicontinental background

Kristen Mittelman was born in Greece, where her family operated a successful marble and granite quarry. When she was 14, the family moved to Katy, Texas. 

“I hardly spoke English when I began high school in Katy,” she said. “But I always cared about education, and I wanted to do something that would make a difference –– something that no one else was doing.”

When it came time to look around at colleges to attend, Mittelman found Baylor attractive –– partly because it was close enough to Katy to allow for frequent weekend visits home, and partly because of its welcoming atmosphere.

“Baylor felt like home,” she said. “It’s a big campus, but I felt as if I were among family. The people were smiling, laughing and happy, and were very nice to me. I remember thinking, ‘I belong here.’”

Mittelman entered Baylor as a biochemistry major, and soon met Dr. Mary Lynn Trawick, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry, who granted Mittelman’s request to work in her research lab on campus.

“Dr. Trawick became a mentor to me, and really helped me,” Mittelman said. “She opened up opportunities for me, and helped me build my résumé by allowing me to do different types of lab work.”

Trawick said that in the laboratory, Mittelman was very directed and well-organized.

“Kristen enjoyed research and did very well,” Trawick said. “She eventually took on a research project in my lab, and I think that was important in terms of her realizing that she enjoyed science, and it was something she’d like to do as a career.”

After her graduation from Baylor in 2000, with the lab experience and recommendation provided by her mentor, Mittelman was accepted into a very competitive Ph.D. program at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. And that’s where she met her future husband, another passionate scientist named David Mittelman.

“At BCM I worked with blind mice that carried the mutation that causes retinitis pigmentosa from stem cells, and David was actually curing blind mice using DNA technologies. That’s how we met,” Kristen said.

David Mittelman had been somewhat of a child prodigy when it came to DNA, having begun work on the first human genome project at UT Southwestern Medical School in Dallas at age 15. He went on to take part in the 1000 Genomes Project, an international research effort to create a detailed catalog of human genetic variation. Kristen said that project led to standards which are still in use today by the Food and Drug Administration for gene sequencing in medicine.

After the couple married and Kristen completed her Ph.D., they pursued independent careers for a few years. But their shared interests in DNA led them to join together to form what they envisioned as “the forensics lab of the future.”

“We always knew that we were going to use DNA technologies to make the world better,” Mittelman said.

A bold mission

In 2018 the couple started Othram, which they named after the formidable outer wall which protects the city of Minas Tirith in The Lord of the Rings. Its mission was to develop the most advanced DNA sequencing methods possible and apply those to the specialized needs of a forensics lab –– as opposed to the needs of a medical facility.

“When you go to a doctor and give blood, they get fresh DNA –– from a single source,” Mittelman said. “It’s not contaminated, and it’s not degraded.”

By contrast, she said, many DNA samples recovered from a crime scene are problematic when it comes to easy identification. DNA from the victim might be mixed in with DNA of the perpetrator, and also with bacterial DNA or with DNA from animals or plants if the crime scene is outdoors. In addition, the amounts of DNA which can be recovered from crime scenes is sometimes miniscule –– such small amounts that, using traditional methods of analysis, scientists doing their initial test might totally destroy the sample without having come up with a usable match. That makes future retesting impossible.

The new technology developed by the Mittelmans and their scientists at Othram was designed to overcome these limitations. It can examine even extremely small samples of DNA, or samples that have been degraded by contact from other substances, and still come up with usable matches.

“We figured out how to look at a small portion of DNA –– even DNA that is burned or exploded, or would be impossible to analyze before –– and make that DNA still readable and trackable. And now, we’ve been able to solve more cold cases than anyone else on earth using this technology,” Mittelman said.

Besides helping solve cold cases that are sometimes decades old, Mittelman said Othram’s technology has recently been used by law enforcement in new and ongoing investigations as well.

“Because we can (identify DNA) and do it very quickly, we’re able to solve cases in real time and help law enforcement identify the perpetrator and get them off the street before the next crime is committed,” she said.

New projects

In May 2024, Othram announced a new venture called Project 525. It focuses on identifying 525 unidentified children, and the name commemorates National Missing Children’s Day, recognized each year on May 25.

Since 2022, Othram has worked closely with the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs), a U.S. government program providing technology as well as forensic, investigative and other services to resolve long-term missing persons cases, or cases of unidentified persons who have been found dead.

In Project 525, Othram will work through 525 juvenile cases published in NamUs to “help restore names back to the most vulnerable members of our population.”

Another new project in the works is a collaboration between Othram and a successful television producer for a fictional drama series that will mirror what goes on in the real-life company.

“It’s going to come out in the fall of 2025, and will sort of chronicle our journey –– what we do here at Othram and how we solve cases,” Mittelman said. “I believe that when (viewers) see what’s possible, and that there’s access to this technology for everyone, I think the technology will be used more and more. Most people don’t even know that it’s here and that it’s possible right now.”

Looking ahead

The daughter of Kristen and David Mittelman is now an undergraduate student at Baylor, majoring in biochemistry on a pre-med track. Kristen said that she hopes that eventually, college students such as her daughter will be able to learn the kind of forensic techniques now being used at Othram.

“It takes a very different kind of genomic scientist to do this forensic work,” she said. “We hope that one day there will be real academic degrees that implement genomics and forensics together.”

Mittelman said that those forensic scientists of the future will be able to experience the same fulfillment she’s found in helping solve crimes and give answers to grieving families.

“I’ve met hundreds of families over the years doing this job, and their lives stop the moment they lose their loved ones, and they don’t know who committed the crime against them,” she said. “Being able to give them answers is the most incredible thing I’ve ever done.”

*This story originally appeared in the Fall 2024 issue of Baylor Arts & Sciences magazine.

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The College of Arts & Sciences is Baylor University’s largest academic division, consisting of 25 academic departments in the sciences, humanities, fine arts and social sciences, as well as 11 academic centers and institutes. The more than 5,000 courses taught in the College span topics from art and theatre to religion, philosophy, sociology and the natural sciences. The College’s undergraduate Unified Core Curriculum, which routinely receives top grades in national assessments, emphasizes a liberal education characterized by critical thinking, communication, civic engagement and Christian commitment. Arts & Sciences faculty conduct research around the world, and research on the undergraduate and graduate level is prevalent throughout all disciplines. Visit the College of Arts & Sciences website.