GRAND PRAIRIE -- The cold case murder of a Dallas County probation officer may be solved soon, thanks to some revolutionary technology.
Grand Prairie police say a new forensic DNA analysis service by Parabon®, called Snapshot™, is being used by detectives to try and solve the August 8, 2008 murder of Raymond Hernandez, 45. He was found with multiple stab wounds inside his Grand Prairie home, which was set on fire.
A purple four-door Dodge Stratus may be linked to the crime, police say, and DNA evidence leads detectives to believe the suspect may be wanted for several sexual assaults in Fort Worth.
"Any composite drawing of a potential suspect would pale in comparison to what Snapshot has provided us," the department says. "GPPD has utilized a DNA Phenotyping Service which predicts a physical appearance from DNA. It can be used to narrow suspect lists, generate investigative leads in cases where there are no suspects or database hits, and to help identify unknown remains. It can also determine kinship between DNA samples out to six degrees of relatedness."
Snapshot produced the following flyer and photo of the suspect.
Grand Prairie police will host a 2 p.m. press conference to showcase the new technology and explain how it works.
