On May 5, 2026, I got a message on Ancestry.com from a lawyer/private investigator that is working on solving a cold case in Washington.
I initially thought it was some kind of scam so I looked up this person on the different state bar websites she claimed to be licensed in and verified that she is an actual attorney. Then I called her.
A woman was abducted, raped, and left on the side of the road in Washington in 2012. The perp might be a second or third cousin. I’m Mexican and I have a TON of cousins. My mom has over 23 siblings. My grandfather’s brother had 15 kids. They had siblings who had a bunch of their own kids. That’s just one side of my family. There are a lot of smaller family trees that make up the big family tree. We’re more like a forest.
She asked if I was willing to upload my dna results from Ancestry.com onto a website that the police use to find people.
Here is my issue: While I do want to help solve a cold case I do not want to give my dna to the government.
Today, September 17, 2026, a detective from Tacoma, WA called me and asked me if I would upload my dna. The first detective is retiring and he’s taking over the cold case. I mentioned my hesitation (what if I want to commit a crime later?) and he had a good laugh about that. He said likely the worst thing that happens is that I find more relatives I didn’t know about, but no promises.
I finally agreed.
