Amanda's Blog

At some point in life we have to look to younger generations to take the wheel when it comes to systemic problems in our communities. They are the ones who will lead the charge to create cultural shifts, shifts in mindsets and real and lasting chang…

There are plenty of worthy causes here in the United States and abroad that you can donate your money to. So, why would anyone donate money for DNA testing in cold cases? Well, there’s an entire online community dedicated to helping solve thes…

The Disappearance of Brittanee Drexel  Episode 18 of the What Remains podcast is about the murder of Brittanee Drexel, a young woman who disappeared during a spring break trip to Myrtle Beach in 2009. Despite national attention, the case went …

When Alexander Brown disappeared from his home in Baltimore in December 1978, his family was floored. In their minds, there was no way the engaging and kind man they called “Alec” would just walk away from his life. But the search for Al…

At first, Professor Glen Jackson, who teaches Forensic and Investigative Science at West Virginia University, had a hard time explaining to me what isotopes are. He told me he is used to speaking with chemists, not lay people like myself. In fact, h…

Sometimes, a cold case is like an itch that you have to scratch in order to function. That’s what the Somerton Man case has been like for electrical engineering professor Derek Abbott who teaches at Adelaide University in South Australia. He f…

In 1960 a child’s remains were found in a remote area of Yavapai County, Arizona. There were no clues to identify her and solving murders with DNA testing wasn’t possible back then. People in the community came together to bury the child…

Just before her high school graduation Alice Almendarez took one more trip to the morgue to see if she could find her missing father, John. She needed to know if he was dead or alive. What she didn’t know at the time was that her father’…

The Challenge of Identifying People Who Live in the Shadows | What Remains Podcast Episode 12 Amanda Lamb It’s not unusual for remains to go unidentified when a person is living off the grid—living on the streets, stuck in poverty, add…

DNA Profiling And “The CSI Effect” | What Remains Podcast Episode 11 Amanda Lamb We’ve talked a lot about the CSI Effect in What Remains. Crime scene techs on popular TV shows use some magical scientific technology that does…