CODIS Searches and Partial Matches, cont.

Partial matches may link a close relative (generally, father-to-son and/or brother-to-brother relationships) and provide investigative leads. However, moderate stringency searches have demonstrated very low efficiency in locating true relatives in offender databases.²

Partial matches are identified by an analyst who reviews candidate matches after the CODIS search is complete. A partial match occurs when the offender profile is excluded as the person who committed the crime because it does not match the crime scene profile, but the analyst identifies a sufficient number of alleles in common between the suspect and crime scene profile to believe that a family member of the suspect may be the true perpetrator.

View a loci chart representing a partial match.

² Bruce Budowle et al.: Clarification of Statistical Issues Related to the Operation of CODIS PDF download: 120kB

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