At-home DNA test led to discovery of identity of body found in wall

Donna Truscott and Tanya Lee Glover had never met, but a sample of Truscott’s DNA helped police investigators identify the human remains of Glover, who had been missing for more than a decade before her body was discovered behind a wall at a Brisbane unit complex last December.

Truscott took an at-home DNA test after becoming curious about her family’s ancestry, ticking a small but important box when submitting her sample.

“That box you tick gives police access to your DNA if you ever need it,” she said.

After detectives searched through the DNA database, they reached out to Truscott and her family, informing them that their DNA matched human remains found in Alderley.

“That’s where the story sort of started for us,” Truscott said. 

“The next couple of days there [were] several conversations, emails with police.”

Truscott supplied investigators with her lineage information and family tree which provided police with a roadmap of potential matches for the unidentified woman.

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After months of searching, Glover was formally identified on Thursday.

“We can put a name and a face to this tragic discovery,” Superintendent Andrew Massignham said.

“The next piece of this investigative jigsaw puzzle is (to) try to establish who knew Ms Glover so we can build a victim profile of her.”

Although the two had never met and their relation to each other is still unknown, Truscott says she and her family are hopeful that “Tanya’s killer (will be) brought to justice.”

The Australian Federal Police is using the same genealogy tracking technology in over 2500 long-term missing persons cases.

“Supplying your DNA, adding it to a database like that, it’s going to help bring people home,” Truscott said.