DNA profiling has become the gold standard in forensic science to identify an otherwise unknown individual and paternity or kinship.
Genetic materials cannot tell a lie; except identical twins, no two persons have the same DNA. That said, there can be similarities in the genetic markers among biologically related individuals.
While father and mother might be distantly related or not related at all, children inherit a good chunk of their parents’ genetic markers.
As long as the DNA samples are available for comparison, nowadays, it is not difficult to determine biological relationships between individuals, for example, children, grandchildren, brothers, sisters, twins, cousins, etc., or the lack thereof.
Some old cases might have been easily and quickly solved using DNA comparison, but then again, the technology was not yet available before the mid-1980s.
Had the method been developed decades earlier, the disappearance of Bobby Dunbar in August 1912 wouldn’t have transmuted into a bizarre unlawful removal of Bruce Anderson from the custody of his mother Julia Anderson and caretaker William Walters.
Only in 2004, thanks to DNA profiling, that the case was resolved.
10 /10 Fishing Contest
On the morning of August 23, 1912, the Dunbar family of Opelousas, Louisiana, were at a fishing contest along the shores of Swayze Lake in St. Landry Parish.
When participants returned to cabins for lunch, Bobby Dunbar was nowhere to be found. He was 4.
Upon a quick search, someone noticed the presence of bare footprints leading toward a railroad nearby.
The parents, Percy and Lessie Dunbar, were certain that Bobby had been abducted. It did not help that rumors spread about a stranger wandering around the area, but no one knew what happened.
9 /10 Missing Person Postcard
In the months that followed, the disappearance of Bobby Dunbar became the most talked-about mystery in Louisiana. Reward pledged for the boy’s safe return mounted to the equivalent of more than $150,000 of today’s money.
Percy Dunbar, a well-respected man in the real estate and insurance businesses, had a detective agency print postcards with a picture and description of Bobby and mailed them all across towns and counties from Texas to Florida.
The report said Bobby had a stout build, fair complexion, large round blue eyes, rosy cheeks, light but turning dark hair, and a badly scarred big toe.