Colleen Fitzpatrick (forensic genealogist)
Encyclopedia
Colleen Fitzpatrick, Ph.D, FSPIE (b. April 25, 1955, New Orleans, Louisiana
) is an American
forensic genealogist for major military and civilian organizations.
Fitzpatrick received her BA
in physics
(1976) from Rice University
, and her MA
(1983) and PhD
in nuclear physics
(1983) from Duke University
, and has 25 years experience working in the field of high resolution optical measurement techniques. She is a Fellow of the Society of Photoinstrumentation Engineers (SPIE) optical society. She is the group administrator for the Fitzpatrick DNA study
, which she founded in 2000.
2005–present, Yeiser & Associates, Huntington Beach, California.
After the medical examiner exhausted all avenues of research, located family members of deceased individual in Germany to determine disposition of remains. Deceased had not had contact with her family in over 50 years.
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
) is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
forensic genealogist for major military and civilian organizations.
Fitzpatrick received her BA
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
(1976) from Rice University
Rice University
William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University or Rice, is a private research university located on a heavily wooded campus in Houston, Texas, United States...
, and her MA
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
(1983) and PhD
PHD
PHD may refer to:*Ph.D., a doctorate of philosophy*Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*PHD finger, a protein sequence*PHD Mountain Software, an outdoor clothing and equipment company*PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in nuclear physics
Nuclear physics
Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies the building blocks and interactions of atomic nuclei. The most commonly known applications of nuclear physics are nuclear power generation and nuclear weapons technology, but the research has provided application in many fields, including those...
(1983) from Duke University
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...
, and has 25 years experience working in the field of high resolution optical measurement techniques. She is a Fellow of the Society of Photoinstrumentation Engineers (SPIE) optical society. She is the group administrator for the Fitzpatrick DNA study
Surname project
A surname DNA project is a genetic genealogy project which uses genealogical DNA tests to trace male lineage.Because surnames are passed down from father to son in many cultures, and Y-chromosomes are passed from father to son with a predictable rate of mutation, people with the same surname can...
, which she founded in 2000.
Recent cases
- Fitzpatrick has been a key member of the AFDIL team on the identification of the remains found in the wreckage of Northwest Flight 4422 that crashed in AlaskaAlaskaAlaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
in 1948; the identification was featured worldwide in the print media and on MSNBC.
- Fitzpatrick was the key member of the team who identified the remains of the Unknown ChildThe Unknown ChildThe Unknown Child may refer to the previously unidentified small boys whose remains were recovered after the sinking of the RMS Titanic:* Eino Viljami Panula , a 13-month old Finnish boy believed to be the Unknown Child during 2002–2007...
of the RMS Titanic. She also worked with Sharon SergeantSharon SergeantSharon Sergeant is a forensic genealogist who specialises in researching and tracing international fraud cases, property settlements, and provenance of artifact collections. Her expertise involves biographical research for historians, publishers, authors, and journalists. She attended Northeastern...
on the Misha DefonsecaMisha DefonsecaMisha Defonseca , born as Monique de Wael, is a Belgian writer and the author of Misha: A Mémoire of the Holocaust Years, first published in 1997 and at that time professed to be a memoir. It became an instant success in Europe and was translated into 18 languages...
case, in which the author of the international bestseller Misha: A Mémoire of the Holocaust YearsMisha: A Mémoire of the Holocaust YearsMisha: A Mémoire of the Holocaust Years is a book by Misha Defonseca, first published in 1997. The book was originally claimed to be a memoir telling the true story of how the author survived The Holocaust as a young Jewish girl, wandering Europe searching for her deported parents...
(known in Europe as Surviving with Wolves) was exposed as a hoaxHoaxA hoax is a deliberately fabricated falsehood made to masquerade as truth. It is distinguishable from errors in observation or judgment, or rumors, urban legends, pseudosciences or April Fools' Day events that are passed along in good faith by believers or as jokes.-Definition:The British...
.
- She also worked with Sergeant on the Herman RosenblatHerman RosenblatHerman A. Rosenblat, born in Poland in 1929, is a Jewish Holocaust survivor who immigrated to the United States in 1950 and later wrote the Holocaust survival memoir Angel at the Fence...
, Angel at the FenceAngel at the FenceAngel at the Fence: The True Story of a Love That Survived, written by Herman Rosenblat, was claimed by its author to be a Holocaust memoir telling the story of his reunion with and marriage to a girl who had passed him food through the fence while he was imprisoned at Schlieben, part of the...
fraud. The possibility that the story that had been circulating as a chain email letter for several years was implausible was initially aired by Deborah LipstadtDeborah LipstadtDeborah Esther Lipstadt, Ph.D. is an American historian and author of the book Denying the Holocaust and The Eichmann Trial. She is the Dorot Professor of Modern Jewish and Holocaust Studies at Emory University...
on her Holocaust studies blog. Holocaust expert Kenneth WaltzerKenneth WaltzerKenneth Alan "Kenny" Waltzer in [New York] is an American historian and professor and the current director of the Jewish Studies Program at Michigan State University...
, director of Jewish studiesJewish studiesJewish studies is an academic discipline centered on the study of Jews and Judaism. Jewish studies is interdisciplinary and combines aspects of history , religious studies, archeology, sociology, languages , political science, area studies, women's studies, and ethnic studies...
at Michigan State UniversityMichigan State UniversityMichigan State University is a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan, USA. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Act.MSU pioneered the studies of packaging,...
, also joined the informal team of experts that Fitzpatrick had assembled. Initial suspicion had been raised by Professor Lipstadt on December 2, 2007.
- Fitzpatrick was the only person to locate a family member who could serve as a DNADNADeoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
reference for Fred NoonanFred NoonanFrederick Joseph "Fred" Noonan was an American flight navigator, sea captain and aviation pioneer who first charted many commercial airline routes across the Pacific Ocean during the 1930s...
, Amelia EarhartAmelia EarhartAmelia Mary Earhart was a noted American aviation pioneer and author. Earhart was the first woman to receive the U.S. Distinguished Flying Cross, awarded for becoming the first aviatrix to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean...
's navigator who vanished with her over the Pacific OceanPacific OceanThe Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
in 1937. A DNADNADeoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
sample from this relative could be compared against DNA extracted from any remains suspected of being those of Noonan, to solve the mystery of what happened to Earhart and Noonan.
Case histories
2008–Present, Forensic Genealogist, Identifinders, Huntington Beach, CaliforniaHuntington Beach, California
Huntington Beach is a seaside city in Orange County in Southern California. According to the 2010 census, the city population was 189,992; making it the largest beach city in Orange County in terms of population...
- Misha DefonsecaMisha DefonsecaMisha Defonseca , born as Monique de Wael, is a Belgian writer and the author of Misha: A Mémoire of the Holocaust Years, first published in 1997 and at that time professed to be a memoir. It became an instant success in Europe and was translated into 18 languages...
Holocaust fraud case: With Sharon SergeantSharon SergeantSharon Sergeant is a forensic genealogist who specialises in researching and tracing international fraud cases, property settlements, and provenance of artifact collections. Her expertise involves biographical research for historians, publishers, authors, and journalists. She attended Northeastern...
, exposed the Belgian-born author of the international best-seller Surviving with Wolves as a fraud. Led to current legal efforts to overturn a $33M judgment Defonseca won against the US publisher for breach of contract. Investigation required hard to access records from World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
BelgiumBelgiumBelgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
.
- Herman RosenblatHerman RosenblatHerman A. Rosenblat, born in Poland in 1929, is a Jewish Holocaust survivor who immigrated to the United States in 1950 and later wrote the Holocaust survival memoir Angel at the Fence...
Holocaust fraud case: With Sharon SergeantSharon SergeantSharon Sergeant is a forensic genealogist who specialises in researching and tracing international fraud cases, property settlements, and provenance of artifact collections. Her expertise involves biographical research for historians, publishers, authors, and journalists. She attended Northeastern...
and an informal team of experts and reporters on three continents, helped expose Rosenblat's Holocaust "memoir", Angel at the FenceAngel at the FenceAngel at the Fence: The True Story of a Love That Survived, written by Herman Rosenblat, was claimed by its author to be a Holocaust memoir telling the story of his reunion with and marriage to a girl who had passed him food through the fence while he was imprisoned at Schlieben, part of the...
as a fraud. Fitzpatrick and Sergeant discovered apparent discrepancies in Rosenblat's backstory, and worked with Kenneth WaltzerKenneth WaltzerKenneth Alan "Kenny" Waltzer in [New York] is an American historian and professor and the current director of the Jewish Studies Program at Michigan State University...
, Professor of Holocaust Studies at The Michigan State UniversityMichigan State UniversityMichigan State University is a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan, USA. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Act.MSU pioneered the studies of packaging,...
to prove that the story was a literary fraud. They showed that while Roma Radzicki was supposedly supplying the food that kept Rosenblat alive, she was hiding under false papers in Allach, GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, about 200 miles away.
- Amelia EarhartAmelia EarhartAmelia Mary Earhart was a noted American aviation pioneer and author. Earhart was the first woman to receive the U.S. Distinguished Flying Cross, awarded for becoming the first aviatrix to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean...
Project: Worked with the non-profit group The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery, located family member of Fred NoonanFred NoonanFrederick Joseph "Fred" Noonan was an American flight navigator, sea captain and aviation pioneer who first charted many commercial airline routes across the Pacific Ocean during the 1930s...
, Amelia EarhartAmelia EarhartAmelia Mary Earhart was a noted American aviation pioneer and author. Earhart was the first woman to receive the U.S. Distinguished Flying Cross, awarded for becoming the first aviatrix to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean...
's navigator, to use as a DNA reference for identifying remains found on Gardner Island in the Pacific Ocean.
- Benjaman KyleBenjaman KyleBenjaman Kyle is the pseudonym adopted by a man who has retrograde amnesia, or possibly dissociative fugue. He was discovered unconscious on August 31, 2004, in Richmond Hill, Georgia and is believed to be about 60 years old...
Amnesia Case: Assisting on the identification of Benjaman Kyle, a victim of retrograde amnesiaRetrograde amnesiaRetrograde amnesia is a loss of access to events that occurred, or information that was learned, before an injury or the onset of a disease....
, found in Richmond Hill, GeorgiaRichmond Hill, GeorgiaRichmond Hill is a city in Bryan County, Georgia, United States. The population was 6,959 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Savannah Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Richmond Hill is located at ....
in 2004.
- The Mascot Holocaust fraud case: Working with a team of Holocaust experts and private individuals to investigate the truth behind the best selling book The Mascot, published by Penguin Books.
2005–present, Yeiser & Associates, Huntington Beach, California.
- Forensic Genealogist, United States Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory, Rockville, MarylandRockville, MarylandRockville is the county seat of Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. It is a major incorporated city in the central part of Montgomery County and forms part of the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area. The 2010 U.S...
: International location of family references for DNA matching; highly multi-lingual.
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- Northwest Flight 4422 Project: Located mtDNA and Y-DNA reference enabling DNA identification of remains of serviceman who died in AlaskaAlaskaAlaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
n plane crash in 1948; Required extensive research of Irish genealogical materials back to circa 1800.
- Northwest Flight 4422 Project: Located mtDNA and Y-DNA reference enabling DNA identification of remains of serviceman who died in Alaska
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- Unknown Child on The Titanic Identification: Located Y-reference for Sidney Leslie GoodwinSidney Leslie GoodwinSidney Leslie Goodwin was a 19-month-old English boy who died during the sinking of the RMS Titanic. His unidentified body was recovered after the sinking by the Mackay-Bennett, and for decades referred to as the unknown child; the body was identified as that of Goodwin in 2007...
. Required extensive genealogical research of England, New Zealand and Australia back to 1820.
- Unknown Child on The Titanic Identification: Located Y-reference for Sidney Leslie Goodwin
- Forensic Genealogist, Summit County, Ohio Medical ExaminerMedical examinerA medical examiner is a medically qualified government officer whose duty is to investigate deaths and injuries that occur under unusual or suspicious circumstances, to perform post-mortem examinations, and in some jurisdictions to initiate inquests....
's Office
After the medical examiner exhausted all avenues of research, located family members of deceased individual in Germany to determine disposition of remains. Deceased had not had contact with her family in over 50 years.
- Forensic Genealogist , Hebron Investments, Scottsdale, ArizonaScottsdale, ArizonaScottsdale is a city in the eastern part of Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, adjacent to Phoenix. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, as of 2010 the population of the city was 217,385...
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- Unclaimed Property: Located owners of unclaimed property on every continent based on contact information sometimes over 20 years old.
Books
- Forensic Genealogy, ISBN 0-9767160-0-3, Rice Book Press, 2005. ISBN 0-9767160-0-3
- DNA & Genealogy, Rice Book Press, 2005. ISBN 0-9767160-1-1
- The Dead Horse Investigation: Forensic Photo Analysis for Everyone, Rice Book Press, 2008. ISBN 0-9767160-5-4
Book chapters
- The Key is the Camera, The Desperate Genealogist's Idea Book: Creative Ways to Outsmart Your Elusive Ancestors, ed. Jeannette Balletic, 2006.
Awards
- September 2007 US Armed Forces DNA Identification LaboratoryArmed Forces DNA Identification LaboratoryThe Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory is a forensics laboratory specializing in DNA profiling run by the United States Armed Forces and located in Rockville, Maryland....
Service Medal for success in identifying the remains of a serviceman found in the wreckage of the 1948 Alaskan plane crash of Northwest Flight 4422 - Spring 2007 Fellow, Society of Photoinstrumentation Engineers (SPIE)
- Spring 2007 International Society of Family History Writers and Editors (ISFHWE) First Place, Article Category,
- Spring 2006 International Society of Family History Writers and Editors (ISFHWE) Second Place, Article Category 2006,