"Where genealogy and spirit connect"
Tuesday, April 12, 2011 BBSRadio.com Station 1, 11 am Pacific
Colleen Fitzpatrick, PhD, author of Forensic Genealogy, has been recognized by the international press for her work with the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory and for exposing two well-known Holocaust frauds. Her article on her work on the Hand in the Snow project will appear in Scientific American in the fall 2011. Although Colleen works on high-level projects, her techniques are familiar to genealogists researching on their own family histories. As Colleen explains, it’s all a matter of imagination and how you look at the materials you have. You will come to her talk as a genealogist; you will leave as a forensic genealogist. For more information, visit her website, www.forensicgenealogy.info/.
Colleen received her PhD in nuclear physics and her MS in physics from Duke University in Durham, NC. She received her BA in physics from Rice University. In the course of her scientific career, she taught at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, TX, was a Member of the Technical Staff at Rockwell International, Seal Beach, CA, went on to work as a Senior Scientist at Spectron Development Laboratories in Costa Mesa, CA. In 1989 when she was laid off at the beginning of the aerospace downturn, Colleen founded her own high-tech optics company Rice Systems in her garage, through which she contracted with NASA, The US Department of Defense, the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and other government and civilian organizations. In 2005 Rice Systems was chosen to design the sensors on the Jupiter Icy Moon Orbiter (JIMO) project, the next spacecraft to Jupiter. When the program was canceled in favor of a lunar probe, Colleen retired temporarily, only to become the author of three of the best-selling books in genealogy, and a world-famous forensic genealogist.
July 2010 Consultant, Elmer Crawford Murder Case, Melbourne, Victoria Police Department
- Assisted Melbourne law enforcement in locating a mitochondrial DNA reference in Ireland & Australia for fugitive Elmer Crawford who murdered his family in 1970 in Australia.
Feb 2010 Consultant, Grim Sleeper Serial Murder Case, Los Angeles Police Department
- Assisted the LAPD with ID of the Grim Sleeper serial murderer through comparing his DNA profile with genetic genealogy database to determine killer’s ethnic background.
Mar 09-Pres Forensic Genealogy Consultant, The Mascot, Potential Holocaust Fraud
- Strategist and researcher for team researching the Holocaust memoire The Mascot by Mark Kurzem to determine if it is a true story.
Feb 09-Pres Forensic Genealogy Consultant, Benjaman Kyle Amnesia Victim Identification
- Directed and organized efforts, with Benjaman’s advocate, on the identification of amnesia victim found in Savannah, GA in 2002
Sep 2008 Forensic Genealogy Consultant, Herman Rosenblat Holocaust Fraud Exposure
- Strategist and researcher for team that exposed Herman Rosenblat’s soon-to-be-published and Oprah-touted best-selling “apple over the fence” Holocaust memoire as a fraud
Mar 2008 Chair and Organizer, Forensic Science Workshop and Panel Discussion, Defense and Security Symposium, SPIE Optical Society, Orlando, FL
Feb 2008 Forensic Genealogy Consultant, Misha Defonseca Holocaust Fraud Exposure
- Strategist and researcher for team that exposed Misha Defonseca’s best-selling Holocaust memoir Surviving with Wolves as a fraud
2008-Pres Forensic Genealogy Consultant, Amelia Earhart Location
- Located a family reference for Fred Noonan, Amelia Earhart’s navigator for DNA testing the remains found on Gardener Island in the Pacific
2007-2008 Forensic Genealogy Consultant, US Armed Force DNA Id’n Laboratory, Rockville, MD
- Identification of the Unknown Child on the Titanic
- The Hand in the Snow (Northwest Flight 4422) Project - Identification of the remains of a merchant mariner killed in the crash of Northwest Airlines Flight #4422, Alaska, March 18, 1948
Mar 2007 Chair and Organizer, Forensic Science Workshop and Panel Discussion, Defense and Security Symposium, SPIE Optical Society, Orlando, FL
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