[1][2][3][4] Chris Tapp served 20 years in prison after being convicted of Dodge's rape and murder, based upon faulty evidence and a coerced confession.
[1] The case helped bring attention to familial searching, a process wherein genetic testing for relatives leads to the discovery of a suspect.
[2] With both false accusations and the ultimate conviction obtained through familial searching, the case is an example for how non-criminal genetic repositories are used in criminal investigations, and furthered the debate on the appropriateness of their use.
[6] In January 1997, about a half year into the investigation, Idaho Falls officials questioned 20-year-old Chris Tapp, initially for information regarding other suspects.
[11] On March 6, 2024, former professional wrestler and congressional candidate Daniel Rodimer was charged with open murder in connection with Tapp's death.
The Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation was later acquired by Ancestry.com, along with the Y-Chromosome database, a collection of genetic data for tracing paternal ancestry.
Others argued that since Usry Sr. donated his DNA sample for recreational/religious purposes, that data should not be used as grounds to accuse members of his family of a crime.
[3] The investigation once again gained momentum in late 2018, as Idaho Falls authorities made another attempt to use familial DNA in order to find Dodge's killer.
[4] CeCe Moore, at Parabon NanoLabs in Virginia, agreed to assist authorities in searching GEDMatch, a public repository for autosomal DNA, for near-matches.
[7][4] After a further three months of genealogical investigation, Moore discovered a seventh previously unknown suspect descended from the same couple, a man named Brian Leigh Dripps Sr.[6] He had lived in Idaho Falls in 1996.
[7] Investigators obtained a DNA sample from a cigarette butt thrown from his car window and found a complete genetic match.
[17] ABC filmed the investigation, discovery, and arrest of Dripps in real time over the course of several years, and aired much of the footage in a 2021 episode of 20/20.
[18][3][4] Investigators of this case were scrutinized for their use of non-criminal databases to find potential suspects, with the primary concern being a breach of privacy for the individuals involved.
The same method of familial DNA searching that was used to identify Dripps and Usry was used in the discovery and arrest of the Golden State Killer.