Barbara Rae-Venter was born on July 17,1948 and is a New Zealand-born American genetic genealogist, biologist, and retired patent attorney best known for her work helping police and investigators identify Joseph James DeAngelo as the Golden State Killer.
19 Facts About Barbara Rae-Venter
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Barbara Rae-Venter authored the book I Know Who You Are: How an amatueur DNA sleuth unmasked the Golden State Killer and changed crime fighting forever in 2023.
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Barbara Rae-Venter Rae was born on July 17,1948, in Auckland, New Zealand, and raised in Auckland's Remuera neighborhood.
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Barbara Rae-Venter moved to the United States at age 20, and has United States citizenship.
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Barbara Rae-Venter earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology and biochemistry from the University of California at San Diego in 1972, and received her Ph.
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Barbara Rae-Venter focused her research career on breast and gastrointestinal cancer.
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Barbara Rae-Venter matriculated at the University of Texas at Austin Law School in May 1983 and received her JD in August 1985.
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Barbara Rae-Venter later worked as a patent lawyer in California specializing in biotechnology and was an assistant professor at Stanford University from 1988 to 1990.
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The field of genetic genealogy was developed largely by volunteer family history hobbyists, and Barbara Rae-Venter realized that the techniques used to identify family members in adoption cases could have wider uses in law enforcement and the identification of suspects and victims of crime.
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Barbara Rae-Venter has been involved in solving several high-profile criminal cases, including the Bear Brook murders in New Hampshire and the Golden State Killer in California.
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In 2018, after her role in using genetics and genealogy to solve crimes became well-known, Barbara Rae-Venter was named in Nature's list of "10 People who Mattered this Year".
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Barbara Rae-Venter was recognized in the 2019 Time 100 list of most influential people.
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Barbara Rae-Venter contributed to the eventual identification of the suspect's true identity, Terry Peder Rasmussen, using DNA obtained from his autopsy after his death in prison.
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In October 2017, Barbara Rae-Venter was contributing to the team attempting to identify the killer.
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Barbara Rae-Venter utilized GEDmatch, Family Tree DNA, and MyHeritage and provided structure to the team's genetic search efforts.
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Several months after the arrest of the Golden State Killer, Barbara Rae-Venter allowed Holes to identify her publicly.
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Barbara Rae-Venter has been one of the most sought after voices when ethical questions arise about the use of shared genetic data by law enforcement.
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In 2019, Barbara Rae-Venter helped identify Bobby Whitt, a boy who had been found in Mebane, North Carolina in 1998.
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Barbara Rae-Venter married Joseph Elmer Huff III on September 21,1981, divorcing in April 1983.