Earlier this year MyHeritage introduced Cousin Finder™, which makes it easy to discover and connect with blood relatives on MyHeritage — no DNA test required. Since launch, it’s quickly become a favorite among family history enthusiasts for uncovering long-lost relatives and strengthening family connections.  Now the company is excited to share that there’s a major update: you can now view Cousin Finder™ results not only for yourself, but for any individual in your family tree. That means you can run it for a great-grandparent, a spouse, or even a more distant relative and see their list of cousins, how they’re related, and opportunities to connect. This update makes Cousin Finder™ even more powerful: Discover blood relatives tied to a specific ancestor or family member Learn exactly how they’re related to that person Complement DNA Matches by finding cousins who haven’t tested Zero in on the most relevant Smart Matches™ through a simpler, more focused view The feature is free to use, available from any profile page in the family tree, and already generating enthusiastic feedback from users. You can read more about it in the MyHeritage blog.

Using genetic genealogy, investigators recently identified the decomposed remains of a man found in a wooded area in 2020.

In May 2020, the Knoxville Police Department reached out to the Knox County Regional Forensic Center to help investigate a deceased person found near a home. Authorities noted the remains were in an "advanced stage of decomposition."

According to genetic genealogy company Othram Inc., the man, who they believe was between 55 and 70 years old, was found with pieces of clothing, and authorities said his cause and manner of death were undetermined. Officials reportedly compared multiple missing persons reports to find a match, but the case went cold.

The remains were submitted to Othram in 2023. According to the forensic center, earlier this month, Othram scientists developed information suggesting the deceased man had family members in Michigan. Relatives reportedly said they hadn’t seen him in 22 years, and they provided a DNA sample. Further testing helped investigators positively identify the remains as Gerald Forsman’s.

According to Othram, Forsman was originally from Michigan and lived in Knoxville. Investigators haven’t determined when he disappeared.

The Nicodemus Historical Society is proud to announce recent leadership and staffing updates as part of its continued efforts to preserve and uplift the legacy of one of the nation’s most historically significant Black town established during the Reconstruction era.

Dr. Ashley C. Adams now serves as president of the Nicodemus Historical Society Board. 

A Nicodemus descendant and nationally respected public policy scholar, Adams brings over a decade of research and leadership experience in African American genealogy, descendant engagement, and reparative preservation planning. She previously served as board secretary beginning in 2016. 

Her long-standing research on Nicodemus has produced several scholarly publications, and her forthcoming manuscript, Advancing Descendant Engagement in Nicodemus, Kansas: A Reparative Approach to Preservation and Stewardship, builds on her commitment to community-led preservation, healing, and education.

As part of its recent organizational restructuring, the Society also announces that Donna Rae Pearson is no longer serving in the role of Executive Director. The board thanks Ms. Pearson for her time with the organization and wishes her well in her future endeavors.

To support daily operations and long-term development, the Society has also welcomed two new team members:

Marilyn Gray, a Nicodemus descendant and retired administrator, has joined as the office manager. With years of experience supporting the Society’s work, Gray brings valuable organizational knowledge and deep community roots to her role. 

She currently provides part-time support in the Nicodemus Historical Society Museum and assists with hospitality at the Nicodemus National Historic Site visitor center. Her presence provides additional interpretive support for visitors and strengthens the organization’s commitment to descendant-led engagement.

Jessica Wright also joins as the Society’s new fundraising associate. A nationally recognized grant strategist, philanthropy consultant, and program analyst, Wright brings over 24 years of experience in nonprofit development, government contracting, and strategic planning. 

She has helped secure over $7.5 million in funding for grassroots and national initiatives focused on education, housing, and social justice. Her role at the Historical Society includes advancing fundraising, building partnerships, and supporting sustainable preservation efforts.

These new appointments reflect the Society’s renewed commitment to descendant leadership, strategic growth, and cultural preservation. 

Together with the Society’s Board of Directors, this team will continue the important work of safeguarding the historical legacy of Nicodemus and promoting a sustainable future for the community and its preservation efforts.

Across Arizona, people die without a name. Sometimes it can take authorities years to identify decedents, and sometimes not at all. It can be even more challenging when the decedents are unhoused.

For two cold cases in Maricopa and Yavapai Counties from 2006 and 2018, that was the challenge for county officials. With help of students and staff in the Ramapo College of New Jersey Investigative Genetic Genealogy Center (IGG), some 2,500 miles across the country in Mahwah, NJ, the identities of John Does have been confirmed.

Maricopa County

On May 24, 2006, a man was struck by a vehicle near Dunlap Road and the I-17 frontage road in Phoenix, AZ. He later died at the hospital, but not before providing a possible name, John Dradel. The spelling could not be verified before his death, leaving his possible name unconfirmed. He was estimated to be 50-70 years old at the time of his death.

The case was referred to the Ramapo College IGG Center in September of 2024 by the Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s Office (MCOME) after traditional means of identification did not yield a confirmed name. A blood card for Gradel was received by Genologue who then sent completed data to Parabon Nanolabs for bioinformatics on September 30. In October, a genotype profile was successfully created and uploaded to GEDmatch and FamilyTreeDNA. The Maricopa Attorney General’s Office was also able to provide a potential date of birth for John Gradel, who was known to frequent homeless shelters in the area where he was struck.

A team of volunteer investigative genetic genealogists, all graduates of the Ramapo College IGG Certificate Program, built a family tree with all available data.The IGG team was able to identify a niece of the candidate Jon Gradl, who said Gradl had not been in contact with the family for years. The niece agreed to provide a reference sample, and her DNA led to Gradl’s identity being confirmed by MCOME in June of 2025, bringing closure to this eight-year old cold case.

Yavapai County

The remains of Verde River John Doe were found March 22, 2018 in Yavapai County, AZ. The man was found inside of a sleeping bag after a flood. He was believed to be an unhoused transient person based on the items found with him.

The case was referred to the IGG Center by the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office and the Yavapai County Medical Examiner’s Office in August of 2023 after traditional means of identification did not yield a candidate. In October of 2023, Doe’s femur was sent to Intermountain Forensics for DNA extraction, whole genome sequencing, and bioinformatics. In May of 2024, the genotype profile was uploaded to GEDmatch and FamilyTreeDNA. In June, students in the IGG Center Bootcamp Program developed a potential candidate, Ronald Raymond Tate, born in San Bernardino, CA.

Tate’s sister, his only living full sibling, was also an unhoused individual. Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office worked with community resources to connect with the woman. She agreed to a DNA test that confirmed Tate’s identity one year later in June of 2025.

Identifying the deceased who were homeless can be difficult. Finding reliable public records and information for people who do not have identification on their persons, who cannot be connected to an address or phone number, who are not in touch with their families or on social media, make developing leads even more challenging. This is where IGG technology, which combines traditional and genetic genealogy and relies on informed consent and publicly available data to provide investigative leads, can help make unknown decedents known again.

“Only the DNA brought us to what we know about these individuals today,” said Cairenn Binder, assistant director of the Ramapo College IGG Center and director of the IGG Certificate Program. 

To learn more about Ramapo College and the IGG Center, please visit ramapo.edu.

Credit: Othram

In May 2020, the skeletal remains of an unknown individual were discovered in a wooded area in the 200 block of Overbrook Drive in South Knoxville, a section of Knoxville, Tennessee that lies south of the Tennessee River. Several law enforcement agencies responded, including the Knoxville Police Department, which contacted the Knox County Regional Forensic Center and they began investigating and collecting evidence to try to determine the person's identity.

The remains were sent to the Knox County Regional Forensic Center, where forensic experts determined that the individual was a man who was likely between the ages of 55 and 70. He stood between 5'5" and 5'8" tall. He was found with several pieces of clothing including a pair of windbreaker pants, a pair of dark dress pants and a pair of Wrangler brand jeans. He had a navy zip-up hoodie, a remnant of a glove with a John Deere logo and a wallet with torn and degraded paper and a Big Lots logo. Multiple missing persons reports were compared for potential matches over the next five years. Despite extensive efforts by law enforcement investigators to identify the man, no matches were found, and the case went cold. The details of the case were entered into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) as UP71379.

The Knox County Regional Forensic Center submitted forensic evidence to Othram in The Woodlands, Texas to determine if advanced DNA testing could help identify the man. Othram scientists successfully developed a DNA extract from the provided evidence and then used Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing® to build a comprehensive DNA profile for the man. Othram's in-house forensic genetic genealogy team used the profile in a genetic genealogy search to develop new investigative leads that were returned to law enforcement.

Using this new information, a follow-up investigation was conducted leading investigators to potential relatives of the man in Michigan. Knox County Regional Forensic Center death investigators made contact with those relatives, who stated they had not seen the man in 22 years. Reference DNA samples were collected from a relative and compared to the DNA profile of the unidentified man using KinSNP Rapid Relationship Testing. This investigation led to the positive identification of the man, who is now known to be Gerald John Forsman. Gerald Forsman was originally from Livonia, Michigan and apparently lived in Knoxville, according to public records. It is unclear when he disappeared.

Forensic genetic genealogical testing on this case was made possible as a result of U.S. Congressman Tim Burchett’s 2024 Community Project Funding request through the Bureau of Justice Assistance. The Knox County Regional Forensic center is grateful to all the agencies listed that assisted in identifying Mr. Forsman. This is the eighth cold case identity solved from this initiative.

Individuals who have taken a consumer DNA test can aid ongoing forensic investigations by joining the DNASolves database. Expanding the number of available DNA profiles increases the likelihood of successful identifications, helping to reunite families with their missing loved ones and resolve cases that have remained unanswered for years.

The identification of Gerald Forsman represents the 26th case in the State of Tennessee where officials have publicly identified an individual using technology developed by Othram. Visit DNASolves to learn about other Tennessee cases where your support can help bring long-awaited answers to families.

Date & Location

Sat, 23 Aug, 2025 at 10:00 am to 02:00 pm (EDT) 

Gaston County Public Library

1555 E Garrison Boulevard, Gastonia, North Carolina, United States

View on map

About the event

Family History and Genealogy Fair

Visit the Main Library on Saturday, August 23, 2025 (08/23/2025) for the Family History and Genealogy Fair!

Drop in and meet representatives from genealogy, family history, and local history organizations between 10:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. Free and open to the public. No reservation is required.

Professional Genealogist Diane L. Richard will present two programs on August 23, 2025, at the Gaston County Public Library in Gastonia, N.C. Sponsored by Friends of the Gaston County Public Library.

EVENT SCHEDULE

10:00 - 11:00 Meet representatives from local historical societies, genealogy or family history organizations, and museums

11:00 - 12:00 Presentation by Diane L. Richard. (Topic To Be Announced) [You may also continue to meet with organizations]

12:00 - 1:00 Meet representatives from local historical societies, genealogy or family history organizations, and museums

1:00 - 2:00 Presentation by Diane L. Richard. (Topic To Be Announced)

Diane L. Richard is a nationally recognized Professional Genealogist with special expertise in researching North Carolina records of all types. She is the owner of Mosaic Research and Project Management, and co-leader of Tar Heel Discoveries, which provides guided North Carolina genealogical research support one-on-one or via a weeklong program.

Diane has M.Eng. and M.B.A. degrees from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. She has been doing genealogy research since 1987 and since 2004 professionally focused on the records of North Carolina, other Southern States and migration paths to the Mississippi River.

Since 2006 she has authored almost 300 articles on genealogical topics for a variety of publications including Internet Genealogy and Your Genealogy Today (was Family Chronicle). From 2010-2017, Diane served as the editor of Upfront with NGS, the blog of the National Genealogical Society and published over 2000 posts. She is current editor of the North Carolina Genealogical Society Journal and past editor of Wake Treasures, the journal of the Wake County Genealogical Society. She is a member of the national and local chapters of the Association of Professional Genealogists and the National Genealogical Society. She has researched NC roots for the popular TV show Who Do You Think You Are? and appeared on the Bryan Cranston episode. She also appeared on The Dead Files season 12, episode 7 “Detox”.

She is a member of the Genealogical Speakers Guild (GSG) and as a speaker she has done webinars (coast-to-coast), conference presentations (FGS, NGS, TxSGS, FxGS, NERGC, SCGS Jamboree, etc), workshops, and local meeting programs about the availability and richness of records documenting North Carolinians, genealogical research techniques and tips, under-utilized resource collections and much more.

The community is invited to another Virtual Genealogy Program presented by Terri Meeks at 9 a.m. Sept. 6, hosted by the Royal Gorge Regional Museum and History Center, via Zoom. No, not Lincoln Logs! Did you know you could buy a home from a catalog and build it yourself? This is an opportunity to research to see if your family lived in one of these homes or if they worked in an industry that provided the materials to build a kit home. This program is free and open to the public. To register for this program, go to the museum’s calendar at https://www.canoncity.org/Museum. Register online or contact the museum at 719-269-9036 for more information.

The following is a press release written by the folks at the (U.S.) National Archives and Records Administration:

Kennedy Family Collection Online All photographs, scrapbooks, and albums in the Kennedy Family Collectionhave been digitized in full and are now accessible online through the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library’s digital archives. The collection contains approximately 6,000 items that document the life and times of the Kennedy and Fitzgerald families from 1878 through 1980. Click here to learn more.  Front of the Kennedy family Christmas card for 1928. (Courtesy of John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum) Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum named Best Presidential Attraction, six NARA Presidential Libraries recognized The Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum, and Boyhood Homehas been recognized as the top winner in the Newsweek 2025 Readers' Choice Awards for Best Presidential Attraction, underscoring its vital role in preserving and promoting the legacy of President Dwight D. Eisenhower.  The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum, William J. Clinton Presidential Library and Museum, George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum, Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum, and John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum were also honored by Newsweek readers as top-ten Presidential destinations. Visitors to all of NARA's Presidential Libraries are encouraged to track their progress through our Passport to Presidential Libraries program. The Lee Resolution On June 7, 1776, in the Second Continental Congress, Richard Henry Lee introduced a resolution proposing independence for the American colonies and stating "that these united colonies are and of right ought to be free and independent states." The Lee Resolution contained three parts: a declaration of independence, a call to form foreign alliances, and "a plan for confederation." On July 2, 1776, the Congress adopted the first part of Lee’s Resolution (the declaration), and its words are echoed in the Declaration of Independence. As the National Archives Museum prepares to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in 2026, we will debut a new museum experience. The American Story, opening October 23, 2025, will give insight to several important moments throughout our nation's history. The Lee Resolution records the July 2, 1776, vote in which the Continental Congress agreed to independence. NAID: 301685 More National Archives News

In honor of Labor Day in the U.S., MyHeritage is opening up access to a massive collection of historical records — over 892 million U.S. and Canadian census records — completely free starting tomorrow, August 27–September 2, 2025.  Search U.S. Census records on MyHeritage Search Canadian Census records on MyHeritage The free records include every U.S. federal census from 1790–1950, plus state censuses and Canadian national censuses. It’s a great opportunity to trace the occupations of your ancestors, see where they lived, and follow how their families grew over time.

Open Library is like a gigantic online card catalog. The Internet Archive (one of the most underrated entertainment sites on the Web) is working on the ambitious project to have one web page for every book ever published. The catalog is made up of millions of titles of fiction, nonfiction, textbooks, and children’s books.

You can read many of them instantly in your browser. Others are available by borrowing with a free account. (It’s not too different from checking out real books at your local library. They have waiting lists for the popular stuff, but there are so many books, you’ll always have plenty of choices.) I like the Reading Goal and Virtual Library features, too. And if you’ve ever thought you might be a librarian in another life, the site allows for all kinds of open source, collaborative ways to get involved.

https://openlibrary.org/