The Cold Case Solved by Genealogy DNA
Bear Brook (September 2018) investigated one of America’s strangest cold cases: four bodies found in barrels in New Hampshire’s Bear Brook State Park (1985, 2000). Reporter Jason Moon’s eight-episode series revealed the killer’s identity through genetic genealogy—the same technique used to catch Golden State Killer months earlier. The show documented how consumer DNA databases (23andMe, Ancestry) revolutionized cold case investigations while raising privacy concerns.
The podcast’s meticulous research—interviewing detectives, genealogists, victims’ families—created emotionally resonant true crime without sensationalism. Moon’s discovery that the killer (Terry Rasmussen) was a serial identity-changer who left victims across multiple states demonstrated investigative podcasting’s power to uncover new information, not just rehash known cases.
Bear Brook won Peabody Award and established New Hampshire Public Radio as serious true crime producer. The show’s success proved that regional public radio could compete with national networks through deep local reporting. The genealogy DNA angle sparked conversations about privacy, consent, and law enforcement’s access to genetic databases—debates intensifying as more cold cases were solved through similar methods by 2020-2023.
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