Mitochondrial DNA Analysis of Danforth Doe (CFS File #A-475-95) and Two Putative Sons

In the summer of 1995 human remains were recovered at a construction site on Danforth Avenue, East Toronto, Ontario. Evidence clearly showed that this female, who had died several decades earlier, had met a tragic end, as her skull had numerous unhealed impact fractures. Circumstantial evidence resulted in a presumptive ID which was the subject of a documentary aired on an episode of ‘Exhibit A' entitled “The Danforth Lady”. The episode not only concluded that the mystery of her identification had been solved, but that Danforth Doe had been positively identified by mtDNA. By stating that the mtDNA from the bones of Danforth Doe matched the DNA from her sons the documentary missed an important evidentiary item; the lab that conducted the DNA analysis does not have an mtDNA capability. This was confirmed by the lab director although he noted that some inconclusive nuclear DNA results had been obtained, but these were not reported in the documentary. In this study, mtDNA analysis of the “Danforth Doe” bones was conducted at two mtDNA laboratories in Thunder Bay. Comparison of the mtDNA hypervariable regions I and II in the bones and samples from the putative sons resulted in an exclusion (no match), which supported the preliminary nuclear DNA results that were revealed (in blind) following the mtDNA results. This case clearly shows the value of mtDNA in cold cases and also exposed the unreliability of documentary reporting. It warrants a pre-cautionary stance for forensic scientists involvement with the media despite the cold case nature of the investigation. Most important is the fact that the one surviving son in reality does not have closure on his mother's disappearance.