A Killer in the Family Tree
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(upbeat music) - I really like to solve puzzles and genealogy kind of is like that. It offers you this endless stream of blanks to fill in. My name's Chelsea Rustad, and in 2013, I began my search for my own family history. And it took me down lots of unexpected paths along the way. In 2015, I saw on Ancestry's Facebook page, they were running a contest, and two winners would receive an Ancestry DNA kit. They contacted me and said, "Chelsea, you're one of the winners." - The Ancestry DNA kit arrived. You just kind of spit in a tube and seal it up, and then it was on its way. - Did you have any idea just what kind of story your DNA would tell? - I really didn't. (upbeat music) - I was a genealogy hobbyist, like millions of other people in the United States. I kind of accidentally fell into it. I'm Cece Moore, and I'm an investigative genetic genealogist, and that means I use DNA to try to help law enforcement find violent criminals. When the Golden State Killer suspect was identified through investigative genetic genealogy, there were many people who said this wasn't a tool that would be used commonly in law enforcement. And I wanted to prove them wrong. - And genetic genealogy has exposed a lot of secrets that people had hoped would remain secret. - Yes, oftentimes it's someone's deepest, darkest secret. - All I'm thinking is, oh, it's gonna confirm my ethnic background, and maybe I'll get to connect with some cousins. I was excited, I was just really optimistic about like, maybe it will uncover something cool. - A young Canadian couple takes a road trip from Vancouver Island to Seattle in November 1987. (gentle music) - 18-year-old Tanya Van Kylenborg and her 20-year-old boyfriend, J. Curlfriend, had disappeared during a round trip from the Skagit County has the first half of this puzzling case. - In May of 2018, I got a knock on the door, and it was two investigators from Skagit County. And I was so confused, what are they investigating? - The murder of 18-year-old Tanya Van Kylenborg.
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When a woman uploads her DNA to a genealogy website, authorities show up at her door. Is there a double murderer in her family tree? "48 Hours" correspondent Erin Moriarty reports.