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When 40-year-old Juan Sanchez was arrested, charged and later confessed to an unsolved murder in Central Florida, Anthony Gorgon’s name didn’t make it to the newspapers or the evening news.
But perhaps it should have been. It was Gorgone’s painstaking work as a crime lab analyst for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement that directly led to the solving of the case.
In 2011, a 21-year-old woman, Lacey Thistlewood, was found murdered in a parking lot in Orange County. She had no clues, no suspects, and little evidence.
“When we analyzed samples taken from under the victim’s fingernails, we were able to obtain part of the man’s DNA profile,” said Gorgon, who is now FDLE’s forensic director. “We had enough data to search in the CODIS DNA database.”
CODIS stands for Combined DNA Index System, a database that includes local, state, and national databases of DNA profiles of convicted criminals, unsolved crime scene evidence, and missing persons.
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However, there was no match. Two years have passed.
Then in 2013, Sanchez was arrested on unrelated charges in another part of the state. He had to provide his own DNA sample to the state.
“His sample was entered into the state database and it matched an unsolved murder case that I worked on,” Gaughone said. “When confronted, the man confessed to strangling the victim. I’ll never forget how excited the authorities were when he called to inform them of the CODIS attack.”
“The unsung hero”
Statewide crime analysts are the civilian side of law enforcement. These are the people who work behind the scenes, doing the hard work of helping detectives and investigators make arrests, and sometimes making headlines.
“FDLE crime intelligence analysts and crime lab analysts are the ‘unsung heroes’ of law enforcement and do not ask for or expect recognition,” said the resident investigator serving Brevard and Volusia counties. said Jason Kriegsman. Most famously, behind every great researcher is a great analyst. ”
In addition to laboratory analysts like Gorgone, there are also intelligence analysts like Andrea Saunders, who basically collect information to solve crimes or prevent them from occurring. Analyze. His typical day as a crime analyst involves reviewing new intelligence reports before meeting with investigators to determine appropriate next steps.
Mr. Sanders has worked on cases ranging from human trafficking to economic crimes, from missing children to large-scale drug trafficking.
Intelligence analysts lead investigations in investigating the structure and scope of criminal activity.
thwart a potential murderer
For Sanders, there is nothing more satisfying than stopping a violent crime from occurring, as when FDLE received a tip about a man who was said to be extremely dangerous and planning to rape and murder an unspecified victim. There’s no way to go.
“The subject was determined to be 100% violent and a flight risk,” Sanders said. “According to reports, the subject had killed multiple animals and was preparing to move on to human targets.”
With that information, Saunders was tasked with locating the target before they hurt anyone. FDLE personnel were unable to locate the individual at the home and had no clues as to his whereabouts.
“As time was running out, investigators relied on me to use multiple investigative techniques to locate the subject,” Sanders said. “After several tense hours, I was able to determine that the subject was at the hotel.”
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The techniques used by Sanders included extensive queries against analytical and open source databases. After the subject was discovered, it was revealed that he made several attempts, including following the woman to her car while holding a hammer.
“Our crime intelligence analysts work tirelessly to analyze data, connect the dots, and provide investigators with valuable, actionable information to prevent and solve crime. Our crime intelligence analysts and laboratory analysts are dedicated public servants and should be recognized for their outstanding work,” said Kriegsman. We work hard every day to keep our community safe. ”
Contact Torres at jtorres@floridatoday.com.You can follow him on Platform X, formerly known as his Twitter @johnalbertorres.
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