# Why order new dna test after 15 years?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-order-new-dna-test-after-15-years/588327>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 8, 2011, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-order-new-dna-test-after-15-years/588327 "2011-07-08T16:49:35Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![cmosdes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@cmosdes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmosdes)\
**Post date:** [July 8, 2011, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-order-new-dna-test-after-15-years/588327/1 "2011-07-08T16:49:35Z")

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According to [this](http://www.cbsatlanta.com/story/15016796/missing-woman-found-alive-after-40-years) story, a woman went missing 40 years ago and then 15 years ago remains were found and presumed to be her. Advanced dna testing was done (presumably recently) on the remains which showed they were not her.

According to the article:

> [@](#):
>
> Last week, more than a decade after the mystery seemed solved, one of Hood’s daughters and nieces received another call. Police informed them that advanced DNA technology revealed the remains found 15 years ago were not Hood’s.

Why would the police do advanced dna testing after 15 years on a case that for all intents and purposes appeared to be solved? Since the police called the family, I’m presuming it wasn’t the family that requested the advanced testing. Is the backlog for dna testing 15 years long? Is it possible the police were just trying to follow up on a different missing persons case and were testing all remains from that time period?

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**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\
**Post date:** [July 8, 2011, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-order-new-dna-test-after-15-years/588327/2 "2011-07-08T17:08:32Z")

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Maybe they knew the prior tests were unreliable.

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**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\
**Post date:** [July 8, 2011, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-order-new-dna-test-after-15-years/588327/3 "2011-07-08T18:59:58Z")

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> **[Missing Woman Found After 40 Years](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/lula-cora-hood_n_892282)**
>
> Missing Woman Found After 40 Years

> [@](#):
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> Then in 2009, after DNA technology had improved, Hood’s family gave DNA to investigators to do a definitive analysis. The results revealed that the remains were not Hood’s.

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**Author:** ![anson2995](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@anson2995](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anson2995)\
**Post date:** [July 8, 2011, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-order-new-dna-test-after-15-years/588327/4 "2011-07-08T23:00:25Z")

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Right link, wrong quote.

The story that \*\*RevTim \*\*links to says that they had _not_ previously done DNA testing on the remains. (bolding mine)

> [@](#):
>
> **They couldn’t perform DNA analysis** , but police said they thought it was Hood, who suffered from mental health issues during her adult life. The family buried what they thought were her remains.

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**Author:** ![cmosdes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@cmosdes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmosdes)\
**Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-order-new-dna-test-after-15-years/588327/5 "2011-07-09T01:39:16Z")

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That makes a lot more sense. I probably should have done a bit more googling on my own. Thanks.