Police were able to link the suspect in the Idaho student killings to the crime scene using the same method used to find the Golden Gate Killer, according to reports.
Sources familiar with the case told ABC News and Fox News that a hit in a public genealogy database led investigators to the suspect.
Bryan Kohberger was arrested in his parent's home on Friday and charged with the murders of four University of Idaho college students.
The FBI followed him for four days before he was arrested. According to CNN, after his arrest, he was booked at the Monroe County Correctional Facility and will not be extradited to Idaho to stand trial.
The 28-year-old was shocked by his arrest, according to his lawyer.
Moscow Police Chief James Fry said at a press conference that police found a car similar to the one that was found near the house where the killings took place.
The weapon used to kill the students has not been found.
According to a University of Chicago Law Review article, using genealogy databases during a criminal investigation has been praised and scrutinized.
The Golden State Killer cold-case was solved using the database GED Match. He was sentenced to life in prison after his conviction.
The author of the law article stated that many law experts believe that lawmakers need to set legal standards for using genetic data in this way. Laws that govern the use of genetic data to solve crimes were enacted in Montana, Maryland, and Utah.
If you want to protect your genetic privacy, experts told Insider, you should send your genes to genealogy companies.
The Bronx's cold case unit used to be headed by Joseph Giacalone, who told Insider last month that there's another factor that could complicate the use of DNA found.
"You have all this blood, and there might be hair fibers, but you're also dealing with a college house, where there are lots of people coming and going," Giacalone told Insider at the time. You probably have a lot of different combinations with the same genetic material.
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