Killer App? DNA Site Had Unwitting Role in Golden State Manhunt

Curtis Rogers is used to helping people track down their relatives. The 79-year-old Florida grandfather of six founded a genealogy website that helps hobbyists like himself trace the branches on their family tree.

In the past few weeks, though, Rogers has been fielding inquiries from a different kind of user: the police.

Rogers runs GEDmatch, a free, open-source website that became headline fodder last month when it helped investigators find the suspected Golden State Killer, who terrorized California with a series of break-ins, rapes and murders in the 1970s and 1980s. GEDmatch lets users voluntarily share raw genetic data from ...