In Echoes Across Charlottesville, DNA linked crimes years before investigators could identify the person responsible. What was missing wasn’t evidence—it was a tool.

That tool is Investigative Genetic Genealogy (IGG).

In this special episode of Criminally Curious, host Michael Fleming sits down with Katie Thomas, co-founder and president of Moxxy Forensics, to explore how IGG works, where its limits are, and why ethics and consent are central to its use.

Moxxy Forensics is a nonprofit organization that partners with law enforcement agencies across the United States to help identify unknown victims and perpetrators of violent crimes—often in cases that have gone cold for decades. Their work does not replace police investigations or bypass the courts. Instead, it operates within strict legal, ethical, and privacy boundaries.

In this conversation, Katie explains:

• How IGG differs from traditional CODIS DNA testing
• Why consumer DNA services like Ancestry and 23andMe are not accessible to law enforcement
• How opt-in genealogy databases work—and why informed consent matters
• The role IGG played in cases like the Golden State Killer
• How modern forensic genealogy has helped identify victims, restore names, and give families long-overdue answers
• What IGG can—and cannot—do in real investigations

This episode is a companion to Echoes Across Charlottesville, but it also stands on its own as a clear, transparent look at one of the most powerful—and misunderstood—tools in modern criminal investigation.

If you’ve ever wondered how family trees can help solve crimes, where privacy lines are drawn, or how science and law intersect long after the headlines fade, this conversation provides the answers.

For more information on Moxxy Forensics, how to ethically support their work, or how to voluntarily upload your DNA to opt-in databases to help identify victims and perpetrators of violent crimes, visit https://www.moxxyforensics.com
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Criminally Curious is an investigative true-crime podcast examining cold cases, missing persons, and the space where public belief, institutional failure, and legal reality collide.

Follow and join the conversation:
Facebook: CriminallyCurious
Instagram: @criminallycuriouspodcast
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TikTok: @CriminallyCuriousAL
YouTube: @CriminallyCuriousAL

Support independent investigative journalism and get bonus content on Patreon: https://patreon.com/CriminallyCuriousPodcast

Visit the website for episodes, resources, and case updates: https://www.criminallycurious.com

If you have information about an unsolved case, contact your local law enforcement agency or submit tips confidentially to tips@criminallycurious.com

Stay safe. Stay curious. What’s done in darkness eventually comes to light.

In September 2014, the disappearance of University of Virginia student Hannah Graham shook Charlottesville—and reopened wounds that had never fully healed. Five years earlier, Morgan Harrington vanished after a concert just blocks away. At the time, the cases seemed separate. They were not.

In this premiere episode of Criminally Curious, host Michael Fleming examines how a single predator operated in plain sight for years—and how investigators were forced to navigate the narrow, often misunderstood gap between suspicion and proof. Long before an arrest was possible, DNA evidence pointed toward the truth. But knowing who committed a crime is not the same as being able to prove it in court.

Drawing on court records, forensic evidence, surveillance footage, and his own role as a trained volunteer in the search for Hannah Graham, Fleming traces the chain of events linking Hannah Graham, Morgan Harrington, and a surviving victim of a 2005 sexual assault in Fairfax, Virginia. The episode explores institutional failures, missed warning signs, and the legal realities that ultimately led to a plea deal—not a trial—and left many questions unanswered.

This is not a recap for headlines.
It is an examination of restraint, accountability, and the limits of the justice system—even when the outcome seems obvious.

Criminally Curious is an investigative true-crime podcast examining cold cases, missing persons, and the space where public belief, institutional failure, and legal reality collide.

Follow and join the conversation:
Facebook: CriminallyCurious
Instagram: @criminallycuriouspodcast
X: @criminallycurio
TikTok: @CriminallyCuriousAL
YouTube: @CriminallyCuriousAL

Support independent investigative journalism and get bonus content on Patreon: https://patreon.com/CriminallyCuriousPodcast

Visit the website for episodes, resources, and case updates: https://www.criminallycurious.com

If you have information about an unsolved case, contact your local law enforcement agency or submit tips confidentially to tips@criminallycurious.com

Stay safe. Stay curious. What’s done in darkness eventually comes to light.