Idaho student killings suspect identified by DNA in public genealogy database

The suspect in the killings of four University of Idaho students that has shocked the US was identified by police using DNA on public genealogy databases, according to ABC News.

Police have said little publicly about how they linked Kohberger to the slayings in Moscow, a city with a population of approximately 25,000. ABC News cited anonymous law enforcement sources that a genealogy database matched DNA recovered at the scene of the homicides and led investigators to Kohberger.

At a brief court appearance Tuesday, Kohberger indicated he would not resist being moved to Idaho to face the murder charges against him there. A judge reportedly said Kohberger must be transferred to that state within 10 days.

The father of Kaylee Goncalves said his family is looking forward to the case against Kohberger proceeding through the court system.

Local police, along with a team of 60 FBI agents, later turned their focus to Kohberger after confirming that he owned a white Hyundai Elantra spotted near the scene. They also reportedly discovered cellphone data which often showed him in the same location as the victims.

Police in Indiana reportedly twice pulled Kohberger and his father over in that Elantra as they drove from Washington to the family home in the Poconos mountains in Pennsylvania, his public defender has said.

They were not ticketed, and there was no indication at the time that Kohberger would turn out to be a suspect in the Moscow quadruple murder, Indiana police told media outlets Tuesday. Police said the stops occurred on 15 December, a little more than a month after the murders.

Authorities staked out the Poconos house for four days before arresting Kohberger on 30 December.