How Forensic Genealogy Is Solving a 246-Year-Old Mystery
Clip: Season 23 Episode 8 | 1m 30sVideo has Closed Captions
DNA may help identify a soldier killed at the Battle of Camden.
For centuries, the identity of a Battle of Camden soldier remained unknown. After archaeologists recovered viable DNA from his remains, forensic genealogists began searching for living relatives. The result was extraordinary: more than 20,000 DNA matches and new hope of identifying a man who died in the American Revolution.
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SECRETS OF THE DEAD is made possible, in part, by public television viewers.
How Forensic Genealogy Is Solving a 246-Year-Old Mystery
Clip: Season 23 Episode 8 | 1m 30sVideo has Closed Captions
For centuries, the identity of a Battle of Camden soldier remained unknown. After archaeologists recovered viable DNA from his remains, forensic genealogists began searching for living relatives. The result was extraordinary: more than 20,000 DNA matches and new hope of identifying a man who died in the American Revolution.
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorshipNarrator: Many of the men Gates left behind on the battlefield have lain in shallow graves since 1780, providing slim hope scientists will be able to extract enough DNA to lead to a positive identification.
Steve Smith: Always in the back of our minds, we were thinking, if we could just get some DNA, maybe it would-- we'd be able to identify some of these soldiers.
Wouldn't that be amazing if that happened?
Narrator: Incredibly, a viable DNA sample was extracted from one of the Marylanders.
Could this be enough to restore a name to one of the fallen soldiers?
The DNA profile was sent to FHD Forensics, in hopes of answering this question.
They said, "Can you do what you do with John and Jane Doe's with a John Doe that died 246 years ago?"
And I said, "Maybe."
You know, that's something I would sure want to try.
Narrator: His DNA profile was uploaded to existing databases to see if there were any matches.
The results were extraordinary.
I was just hoping that they would be able to get enough DNA, and that if they had a good profile that it would match, like, one person.
But it was very unexpected.
We had something like 20,000 DNA matches, which is... a lot.
Archaeologists Discover Revolutionary War Soldiers Buried at Camden Battlefield
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Clip: S23 Ep8 | 1m 37s | A metal detector survey reveals long-lost soldiers at Camden Battlefield. (1m 37s)
NewInside the Deadly Musket Warfare of the American Revolution
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Clip: S23 Ep8 | 3m 17s | A musket ball reveals the deadly reality of Revolutionary War combat. (3m 17s)
Preview | Finding America's Fallen
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Preview: S23 Ep8 | 30s | Explore the site of the Battle of Camden and its importance to the American Revolution. (30s)
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SECRETS OF THE DEAD is made possible, in part, by public television viewers.