Most Influential 2018: Genetic genealogist CeCe Moore helps families trace roots and cops catch killers

It all began with a book, a branch and burning curiosity.

As a young girl growing up in Rancho Bernardo, CeCe Moore would often steal away to her favorite reading spot, a leafy tree outside her parents’ bedroom window, to devour Nancy Drew mystery novels.

Moore, 49, became enthralled by Drew’s uncanny ability to crack complicated cases, never imagining someday she would become possibly the world’s leading DNA detective whose sleuthing skills would identify suspects in a string of cold case homicides.

“I liked that Nancy was a young woman, was piecing together mysteries and is a strong female character,” she said.

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That’s also an apt description of Moore, who, using just a laptop and her self-taught forensic genealogy skills, has worked from her spacious San Clemente home helping detectives since May identify 27 suspects resulting in 17 arrests.

“It’s so meaningful to be able to do this work on behalf of victims and their families,” she said. “There is no better use of the skills and techniques that I have developed.”

However, there are times that Moore can’t help but feel a bit overwhelmed by her heavy responsibilities in identifying criminal suspects.

“Once I figure who it is I want to quickly communicate to law enforcement because I’m only the one who knows it,” she said.

Moore, who has two older sisters and a younger brother, grew up in a close-knit family in the San Diego area.

She attended Mt. Carmel High School and excelled in theater and music, earning a full-ride scholarship to study opera at USC.

However, Moore transferred to USC’s School of Dramatic Arts after learning most opera performers didn’t find success until they were in their 40s.

Upon leaving USC, Moore landed roles in numerous Southern California stage productions and television commercials as well as work as a spokeswoman for Mattel Toys’ Barbie doll line.

Around the year 2000, Moore, who had long been fascinated with genetics and genealogy, began building her family tree.

Around the same time Family Tree DNA began offering mitochondrial DNA testing, allowing consumers to find relatives from the maternal side of their family.

Then in 2009, 23andMe became the first company to offer autosomal DNA testing, which checks the 22 pairs of chromosomes beyond male and female X and Y chromosomes. In addition to turning up genetic matches, the test also offers estimates of ethnic ancestry.

Moore quickly realized the value of autosomal DNA testing in helping adoptees find their birth parents and assisting people in locating relatives.

“I fell madly in love with it,” she said. “It just made sense. I’ve always loved helping people and this gave me an opportunity to help people who needed answers.”

As Moore continued blogging about her family tree, she noticed that respected genetics experts were commenting on her posts.

That led her to establish the DNA Detectives Facebook group, which has more than 100,000 followers. She has helped thousands of people trace their roots free of charge and has been a keynote speaker at some of the world’s largest genealogy conferences.

Moore also parlayed her skills into a successful television career as a consultant for the PBS show “Finding Your Roots”, “20/20” and the “Dr. Oz Show”. In one episode of “Finding Your Roots,” Moore discovered that recording artist LL Cool J’s mother was adopted and connected him with his 90-year-old biological maternal grandmother.

Moore solved another high-profile mystery in 2012 when she helped John and Pam Branum uncover the disturbing truth about the lineage of their adult daughter, Annie.

Through DNA testing, Moore determined John wasn’t Annie’s biological father and instead she was the offspring of Thomas Ray Lippert, a convicted felon employed at a Salt Lake City fertility clinic the Branum’s had used to conceive 22-years earlier.

Lippert, a former law school professor turned kidnapper who died in 1999, may have also been the sperm donor for dozens of other unsuspecting couples, potentially fathering hundreds of children across the U.S., Moore said.

In one of her most memorable local cases, Moore identified the birth mother of Kayla Tovo, who as a newborn was abandoned a few days before Thanksgiving 1987 near a dumpster outside of an Alpha Beta store in Anaheim.

The pair were reunited as a result of Moore’s efforts.

“Kayla is a single mom and disabled veteran with a young son, so it was meaningful to see their circle of love and support expanded when they were reunited with their biological relatives,” Moore said. “It was really awesome and personally satisfying to see their lives enriched.”

It wasn’t long before prosecutors and detectives began asking Moore for help identifying perpetrators in cold case crimes through GEDmatch, a popular, open-source online service for autosomal DNA matching and comparison.

However, Moore balked at the request amid concerns those who submitted DNA results to GEDmatch might be unaware police could also access their public profiles without permission.

“I was concerned about informed consent,” she said. “I hesitated.”

Moore’s concerns were eased somewhat in April when detectives used GEDmatch to catch the alleged Golden State Killer, responsible for at least 13 homicides and more than 50 rapes in California from 1974 to 1986.

Detectives uploaded the Golden State Killer’s DNA profile collected from a rape kit in Ventura County to the GEDmatch database.

Then using the sleuthing techniques developed by Moore retired attorney-turned genetic genealogist Barbara Rae-Venter built an extensive family tree for the perpetrator leading to the arrest of former Auburn police officer Joseph James DeAngelo, 72.

Rae-Venter’s work and a decision by GEDmatch to alert users that law enforcement agencies may be employing its services resolved Moore’s ethical dilemma about applying DNA profiles in criminal investigations, paving the way for her to begin helping police on cold cases.

“My work has always been about providing answers to families,” she said. “We can do the same things for crime victims.”

In May, Parabon NanoLabs, a DNA technology company based in Reston, Virginia, hired Moore to head its newly formed genetic genealogy unit that has solved nearly half of the cases it has been assigned.

In her first assignment for Parabon, Moore directed police to 55-year-old William Earl Talbott II, who was arrested for the 1987 slayings of Jay Cook and Tanya Van Cuylenborg in Seattle.

Then she led detectives to popular Pennsylvania entertainer Raymond “DJ Freez” Rowe, 49, who was charged with the 1992 slaying of school teacher Christy Mirack.

And there have been many other high-profile cases along the way.

Moore helped solve the 1988 rape and strangulation of 8-year-old  April Marie Tinsley near Fort Wayne, Indiana.

John D. Miller, whom Moore identified as the suspected killer, confessed to the crime after he was arrested. He pleaded guilty and last week was sentenced to 80 years in prison.

As more people submit DNA profiles to GEDmatch, genetic genealogists and police will likely be able to solve even more baffling cases such as the Bay Area’s 50-year-old Zodiac Killer slayings and could catch criminals before they become serial offenders, Moore said.

“There is a potential of stopping criminals in their tracks and saving lives,” she added. “If we save one life, it is totally worth it.”