The Forever Witness

How DNA and Genealogy Solved a Cold Case Double Murder

By: Edward Humes

Narrated by: Edward Humes

Length: 10 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

“Thought-provoking true-crime thriller…the book raises urgent questions of balancing public and private good that we’ll likely be dealing with as long as the title implies.”—Wall Street Journal

A relentless detective and a civilian genealogist solve a haunting cold case—and launch a crime-fighting revolution that tests the fragile line between justice and privacy.

In November 1987, a young couple from the idyllic suburbs of Vancouver Island on an overnight trip to Seattle vanished without a trace. A week later, the bodies of Tanya Van Cuylenborg and her boyfriend Jay Cook were found in rural Washington. It was a brutal crime, and it was the perfect crime: With few clues and no witnesses in the vast and foreboding Olympic Peninsula, an international manhunt turned up empty, and the sensational case that shocked the Pacific Northwest gradually slipped from the headlines.

In deep-freeze, long-term storage, biological evidence from the crime sat waiting, as Detective Jim Scharf poured over old case files looking for clues his predecessors missed. Meanwhile, 1,200 miles away in California, CeCe Moore began her lifelong fascination with genetic genealogy, a powerful forensic tool that emerged not from the crime lab, but through the wildly popular home DNA ancestry tests purchased by more than 40 million Americans. When Scharf decided to send the cold case’s decades-old DNA to Parabon NanoLabs, he hoped he would finally bring closure to the Van Cuylenborg and Cook families. He didn’t know that he and Moore would make history.

Genetic genealogy, long the province of family tree hobbyists and adoptees seeking their birth families, has made headlines as a cold case solution machine, capable of exposing the darkest secrets of seemingly upstanding citizens. In the hands of a tenacious detective like Scharf, genetic genealogy has solved one baffling killing after another. But as this crime-fighting technique spreads, its sheer power has sparked a national debate: Can we use DNA to catch the murderers among us, yet still protect our last shred of privacy in the digital age—the right to the very blueprint of who we are?

©2022 Edward Humes (P)2022 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"Whether one is interested in cold case puzzles or genealogy, or just curious about solving crimes, The Forever Witness should be read and reread until it becomes a dog-eared part of one’s library.”—New York Journal of Books

“This book was fabulous. The Forever Witness was thorough, informative, and deeply emotional.”—True Crime Index

“Humes' writing is suspenseful yet also journalistic, providing fascinating details about the case, technological advances in police work, and genetic genealogy. A winner for any fan of true crime.”—Booklist (starred review)

Fascinating story

This was a great book but I wish a pro had read it. I found the narration a little lacking. But an amazing story and well written and researched.

Slow Burn

Interesting case, but very drawn out in this author’s writing style. The actual people, investigation and court proceedings are really really captivating, but the main course through the plot was just a little lacking in good story telling. Everything about genealogy in forensic science and all its current breakthroughs though was truly remarkable.

Such an interesting book!

This was an amazing book. So much so I bought a first edition hardcover to keep in my library. Well done!

Excellent

The book was well written and the authors’s narration was good. Sad story. Go look up what happened with the appeals so I don’t ruin it for you.

Great Read

Very well written spins story facts and issues that all resolve themselves in the end.

Great story on forensic genetics!!!

This is a great fact based coverage of the new field of genetic genealogy! I highly recommend it!!

Stunning simply Stunning!!!!

Loved all the details! Reread it again simply could not bear to not be listening to it!

Great listen

This novel was interesting, engaging, and well written. The author/narrator was a great choice, he has a great voice and his tempo is perfect.

Needs better narration

This is a great story but another instance where the author as narrator was perhaps not the best choice.

Fascinating

The book combined the history evolving DNA science with human interest in the people involved. Unlike many author - readers, this author was an excellent reader.