How CODIS fits into search for Princeton jogger killer

PRINCETON, Mass. — On the eleventh day on the search for the killer of a Princeton jogger, investigators are turning to CODIS.

CODIS, or Combined DNA Index System, is the FBI database for DNA, and is used nationwide. It allows federal, state, and local labs to exchange and compare DNA profiles. It has helped catch serial offenders.

“We have to get a little bit lucky that there's a perpetrator that did something in the past that led him to authorities and put him in the system,” Former Federal Agent Stephen Morreale said.

>>READ MORE: Mass. prosecutor wants to collect DNA from anyone under arrest

Vanessa Marcotte, 27, was out for an afternoon run Aug.7 when she was attacked, possibly sexually assaulted, and killed on a trail near Brooks Station Road. The young woman was visiting her mother for the weekend in Princeton, before returning home to New York City, where she worked for Google. 

Morreale told FOX25 that even if the DNA doesn't match right away, it will stay in the system and be constantly checked as new DNA is entered every day.

“What the investigators are doing, is now they are taking it personal, personal for the victim, personal for the family and personal for the community because they want this person off the street,” he said.

While a DNA match would help the case against a suspect if there is a match, Morrealle told FOX25 investigators would have to find other evidence that places him at the scene.

There have been no named suspects in the case. The State Police helicopter was out on scene Thursday, taking aerial images of the crime scene.

A tip line has been set up to help solve the crime, and so far there have been more than 800 tips.

Marcotte was laid to rest earlier this week.

Cox Media Group