23 and Me, AncestryDNA, and the other services......

This is wild that they would be able to narrow this down to someone nearly 40 years later without actually having the individual's DNA in a crime database or anything.  It sounds like they basically found some familial connections and narrowed it down from there.  

Glad that they are able to identify criminals like this, but it also makes it a little bit unnerving that you could be traced down so easily even if you haven't participated in any of the DNA analyzing services.  

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https://www.king5.com/article/news/crime/wenatchee-cold-case-homicide-carol-traicoff-solved/281-582d23cc-c968-4d05-91dc-44607a8cdccc

Wenatchee police solve 40-year-old cold case homicide
Genetic genealogy testing identified Henry B. Leland of British Columbia as the suspect in Carol A. Traicoff's killing in 1986.

Author: Allison Sundell
Published: 11:53 AM PDT May 14, 2026
Updated: 2:11 PM PDT May 14, 2026

WENATCHEE, Wash. — The Wenatchee Police Department announced Thursday it solved the 40-year-old cold case homicide of Carol A. Traicoff.

Workers in the area found Traicoff, 35, dead May 14, 1986, behind the Stanley Civic Center and called 911. Detectives determined it was a homicide.

"We had no answers for 38 years, and here we are two years past that at the 40-year mark where we get to recognize and give that little bit of closure," said Sgt. Det. Joe Eaton with the Wenatchee Police Department.

Police investigated Traicoff’s death for two years and couldn’t identify a suspect. Detectives collected evidence and submitted it to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for analysis and canvassed the area for witnesses. Investigators conducted interviews and administered several polygraph tests.

In January 2023, a Wenatchee detective sergeant began reviewing the case and identified DNA evidence initially collected at the scene that could undergo forensic genetic genealogy testing. The detective who investigated the case was able to secure grant funding to get the sample tested.

"This certainly really instills the investment that's needed to do these cases, both for funding, of course, but also just with manpower and resources," Eaton said.

The sample was submitted to Othram Labs in July 2024.

Five months later, results came back showing a match for possible family lineage in the continental U.S. and Canada. The results were run through the Canadian equivalent to the Combined DNA Index System. Washington State Patrol’s crime lab reported Feb. 24, 2025, that the suspect was identified as Henry B. Leland of Kamloops, B.C.

Leland died in December 2007.

Leland’s sister, who is his only known living biological relative, spoke with detectives in Gold Bar and cooperated with the investigation. Detectives said her DNA sample further confirmed that Leland was the person who killed Traicoff.

Police said there is no evidence to suggest there is another suspect. Investigators believe Leland and Traicoff were alone at the time of the killing.

The big question remains is why Traicoff was killed.

"It would have been great if he was still alive and we could locate him and see if he would tell us the answers to that," Eaton said.

Eaton said Traicoff and Leland were both unhoused and had been seen together before Traicoff was killed.

"It just sounds like they didn't get along one day and it escalated to the point where she was attacked and through assault was killed," Eaton said.