When Eric Schubert was about 10 years old, his mom gave him a DNA test kit. She thought it would keep her son entertained for a few days, but Schubert had other ideas. Ten years later, the rising junior at Elizabethtown College is still into DNA, and it's become much more than a hobby.

Schubert, 20, uses genetic genealogy to solve crimes, among other applications. "Investigative genetic genealogy is revolutionizing cold cases and crime scenes, but it is still a relatively unknown piece of new technology," said Schubert. Genetic genealogy uses DNA and other genealogical methods to connect biological relationships between people. Locally, the type of work Schubert does has been used to solve cases including the murder of Christy Mirack.

Schubert didn't jump into crime solving immediately. After his initial introduction to genealogy, he started offering traditional services, including helping adoptees locate biological parents or assisting with building family trees. Soon, however, people began asking him to help with more complex DNA puzzles. "I really started mastering genetic genealogy," he stated, noting that he knew the science was beginning to be used to solve cold cases but that he didn't expect to get involved in that work. "I thought, no one is going to come to a 17-year-old and say, 'Hey, can you help us solve this murder?'" he recalled, "but then it did happen." The week he graduated from high school, in 2019, The Philadelphia Inquirer published an article about Schubert and his genetics work. Detectives in Montgomery County saw the article and contacted him for help with a criminal case that had grown cold. "It took me about two weeks to solve the case," he said, noting that he got the case the day before he left for college, but didn't sit down to work on it until he came home to Medford Lakes, N.J., on a school break.

Since then, he's been contacted about helping with other crimes and currently has about half a dozen cases he's working on. At Elizabethtown College, Schubert is majoring in history and political science, and he says he sees genealogy as being more of a side job than a career.

"I love doing it, and as long as people are coming to me, as long as there's a need, I'll keep at it," he remarked. "Whether it's a genetic genealogy case or a traditional case, I love putting the puzzle pieces together. I consider myself part genealogist, part detective and part therapist, since I started reuniting families when I was 15 years old."

He said he still gets updates from families he helped years ago and loves the difference he's making. "I like making that impact, reuniting families, solving decades-old cold cases," he said. "It's a great feeling to know I'm helping a person or group of people who have been looking for an answer for years, if not decades."

For more information on Schubert and his work, visit http://www.esgenealogy.com or search for "ESGenealogy" on Facebook.