The Carlsbad Police Department, San Diego County District Attorney’s Office and San Diego County Crime Stoppers are asking for the public’s assistance for any information about the unsolved murder of Jodine Serrin.
There is a combined reward of $52,000 in this case
.
On February 14, 2007, Jodine Elizabeth Serrin, a 39-year-old, mentally challenged woman, was found murdered in her Carlsbad condominium located in the 1900 Block of Swallow Lane. Jodine was a highly functioning young woman active in the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, Mariposa Club, and Friends Club House. Last year, on the tenth anniversary of Jodine’s murder, investigators released a new website dedicated to the Cold Case Investigation and new suspect information based on the first use of new forensic technology in San Diego County.
Last year, investigators from the Carlsbad Police Department and San Diego County District Attorney’s Office sought the services of Parabon NanoLabs (Parabon), a DNA technology company in Virginia that specializes in DNA phenotyping: the process of predicting physical appearance and ancestry from unidentified DNA evidence.
Law enforcement agencies use the company’s Snapshot ™ DNA Phenotyping Service (Snapshot) to narrow suspect lists and generate leads in criminal investigations.
Using DNA evidence from this investigation, Snapshot produced trait predictions for the associated person of interest (POI). Individual predictions were made for the subject’s ancestry, eye color, hair color, skin color, freckling, and face shape. By combining these attributes of appearance, a Snapshot composite was produced depicting what the POI may have looked like in 2007. Estimated age and body-mass index (BMI) based on witness information were used because age and BMI cannot be determined from DNA.
It is important to note that Snapshot composites are scientific approximations of appearance based on DNA, and are not likely to be exact replicas of appearance. Environmental factors such as smoking, drinking, diet, and other non-environmental factors — e.g., facial hair, hairstyle, scars, etc. — cannot be predicted by DNA analysis and may cause further variation between the subject’s predicted and actual appearances.
Media inquiries:
• Questions regarding the investigation should be directed to Carlsbad PD Detective/Sgt. Darbie Ernst at (760) 931-2139 or email at Darbie.Ernst@carlsbadca.gov .
• Questions regarding Crime Stoppers should be directed to Officer Mark Herring at (619) 531-1500 or email at msherring@pd.sandiego.gov or Deputy Sheriff Adriana Uribe at (619) 531-1547 or email at adriana.uribe@sdsherff.org .
Anyone with any information about the murder of Jodine Serrin is asked to visit www.jodineserrin.net , call the Carlsbad Police Department’s Cold Case Team’s tip line at (760) 931-2225 or the Crime Stoppers anonymous tip line at (888) 580-8477. Visit the Crime Stoppers website at www.sdcrimestoppers.org for more information on how to send anonymous web and mobile app tips.
