A Northern California judge on Thursday approved prosecutors’ request to take more DNA samples from a man charged with being the infamous “Golden State Killer” who eluded arrest for decades. Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Steve White also told prosecutors to informally decide who is empowered to consider defense attorneys’ offer have Joseph James DeAngelo plead guilty in exchange for…

Two families with lifelong secrets unearthed because of home DNA test kits are now dealing with the truth. Here’s what their stories tell us about the shock that can come from new ancestry technology, and how to deal with it.

When Ryan Simpson took an at-home DNA test, he discovered he did not know any of the people who came up as DNA matches, so he started asking his parents some questions.

Canton resident Bryan McGunnigle knew he was adopted. When he received a DNA test this Christmas, he was looking forward to learning more about his heritage, but he didn’t want to get his hopes up about finding members of his biological family. “The letter is a letter that my biological mother wrote when March 8, 1983. It’s just love...

Saturday, Bryan met his birth mother’s daughter Alyssa for the first time. They found each other after Bryan took a consumer DNA test.

When a body was found at a mobile home park during the Sandalwood Fire in Calimesa last October, family members of 89-year-old Lois Arvickson feared it was her. They were on the phone with the mother, grandmother and great-grandmother when the line went dead. They searched nearby shelters to see if Arvickson had survived, but couldn’t find her. It...

At-home DNA test kits are helping people understand their roots, but they’re also uncovering shocking, decades-old family secrets. Enfield resident Ryan Simpson said he bought a DNA test kit when it was on sale. “Everybody was doing it,” Simpson said. “(I) was not expecting to find anything other am I really Irish? Or am I really German? Or something...