Use of genealogy website leads to New Mexico rape arrest

Source: Associated Press

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — DNA evidence checked against a genealogy website led to a man’s arrest in a 2015 Albuquerque-area rape, Bernalillo County officials said.

The arrest announced Thursday was believed to be the first in New Mexico resulting from use of use of a publicly available genealogy website, the Albuquerque Journal reported.

Investigators had DNA evidence from the 2015 attack but that there was no match in a law enforcement database, officials said.

Officials said the case went cold until they took note of a California authorities’ 2018 announcement of an arrest resulting from investigators’use of publicly available commercial genealogy sites.

The New Mexico woman was raped the afternoon of Dec. 24, 2015 as she jogged along a drainage ditch along the Rio Grande.

Jail records said 23-year-old Angel Gurule was booked Wednesday on suspicion of criminal penetration. Online court records don’t list a defense attorney for Gurule who could comment on the allegation.

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