CECE MOORE
The Austin Yogurt Shop Murders: The Cross-Country Search for a Serial Killer
CeCe Moore, Chief Genetic Genealogist, Parabon Nanolabs, Inc.
The Austin Yogurt Shop murders took place in December 1991 in a quiet neighborhood shopping center in Austin, Texas.
The bodies of four young girls were found by firefighters who responded to the scene of a reported fire coming from the store. The girls were found naked, bound with their own clothing, and each victim had been shot in the head.
Years later, two men confessed to the murders and were ultimately convicted of the crimes. After a series of appellate legal rulings, the men were eventually granted new trials. While the state prepared to retry the cases, a DNA profile was developed from evidence recovered from one of the victims using new technology. The newly obtained DNA profile, however, did not match the suspects. The cases were subsequently dismissed pending further investigation.
Law enforcement spent the next 15 years testing hundreds of individuals trying to identify the source of the unknown DNA profile. The murders would remain unsolved until 2025 when additional DNA testing linked the crime to a serial killer from across the country. This presentation will go through the initial investigation, the confessions, the subsequent court proceedings, and how technology combined with good police work ultimately solved the case. It will also cover how a separate investigation hundreds of miles away from Austin, Texas was the key to finding the killer.
CeCe Moore is an internationally recognized DNA investigative expert, educator and pioneer in the field of genetic genealogy. Through collaboration with hundreds of investigative agencies across all 50 states, as well as several other countries, she has led the Parabon Genetic Genealogy Team to the unparalleled record of over 400 successful identifications of violent criminal suspects and unidentified decedents since 2018. Her work with law enforcement has led to the first conviction, the first conviction through jury verdict, the first conviction in a recent violent crime, and the first exoneration in cases where the suspect was identified through genetic genealogy.
Over a decade ago, Moore began developing and teaching the now widely used unknown parentage genetic genealogy techniques that have become foundational and central aspects of the IGG field. She has given hundreds of lectures on DNA and genealogy, including as a featured speaker at the 2022 US Court of Appeals Eleventh Circuit Judicial Conference, as well as teaching thousands of law enforcement officials. In 2013, she founded the DNA Detectives, which has grown to be the largest genetic genealogy educational online community >250,000 members), and co-founded the Institute for Genetic Genealogy.
For twelve seasons, Moore has served as the genetic genealogy expert, trusted with analyzing the DNA of hundreds of high-profile guests for the PBS documentary television series Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr., for which she is Emmy-nominated. Profiled by the New Yorker, the New York Times Magazine and the UK Sunday Times, her groundbreaking work has been featured widely in thousands of articles and television shows throughout the world, promoting public awareness and support of investigative genetic genealogy as a powerful tool with positive societal impact. Recently, she was thrilled to appear as a clue on Jeopardy!