Decades of uncertainty finally came to an end as the Arlington Police Department, with a key assist from the FBI’s Dallas Field Office, cracked a 1985 cold case murder using investigative genetic genealogy (IGG), a crime-solving technique that marries DNA evidence with genealogical sleuthing; the department recently announced they've identified the person responsible for the death of Terri McAdams, nearly four decades after the crime left the community shaken and desperate for answers.
McAdams, found beaten to death in her fiancé's apartment on a Valentine's Day gone awry, had her case revisited multiple times over the years with traditional detective work unable to secure a conviction. The case appeared stuck in indefinite limbo until new DNA testing of physical evidence in 2021 led to a breakthrough. The profile of an unknown male was entered into CODIS without a hit until the FBI got involved last year.
In a game-changing move during August 2023, the Arlington PD sought the expertise of the FBI’s IGG team, facing long odds but with dogged determination, they plowed through public records and genetic markers which led them down an untraveled path toward Bernard Sharp, a man who had escaped the gaze of justice by committing a double murder-suicide mere months after McAdams' untimely passing, leaving behind no DNA of his own for direct analysis.
The relentless pursuit of truth pushed the investigative team interstate where they engaged with a relative of Sharp's and obtained a decisive DNA sample that, after rigorous testing at the University of North Texas Health Science Center’s Center for Human Identification confirmed the link between Sharp and the DNA found at the crime scene, a forensic handshake across the void of time.
“Over the years, it would be easy to lose faith and accept that this case might never be solved,” Arlington Police Chief Al Jones said, as per the City of Arlington. “But Terri’s family never gave up hope and our detectives never wavered. Now, we get to provide answers that this department has wanted to provide for nearly four decades.” FBI Dallas Field Office’s Special Agent in Charge, Chad Yarbrough, was quoted in the same piece, singling out the significance of IGG as one of law enforcement's most potent resources to crack open long-dormant cases and "provide answers to families."
