Othram and CDAA to Host 2027 Cold Case Symposium in Orange County
Building on the success of their 2025 symposium in San Diego, Othram and the California District Attorneys Association (CDAA) will partner again to host the 2027 Cold Case Symposium, June 28–30, 2027, at the Hilton Orange County in Costa Mesa, California.
The two-and-a-half-day seminar is designed for prosecutors and investigators handling cold case sexual assaults and homicides, with additional coverage of unidentified human remains and missing persons cases. The program will connect advances in forensic science with the practical work of developing investigative leads, building cases, and preparing for court.
The 2025 symposium featured prosecutor Kimberly A. D’Avignon discussing the Carla Walker case, one of the first cases to bring forensic genetic genealogy into a criminal trial. Her presentation inspired the Carla Walker episode of Othram Studios’ Trace Identity. For those who missed the 2025 event, the episode offers a look at the case and the prosecution insights she shared, illustrating the practical discussions attendees can expect at the upcoming symposium.
The 2027 symposium will continue that tradition with speakers working at the forefront of forensic science, investigation, and prosecution. Discussions will explore developments shaping cases today, emerging legal and investigative challenges, and the technologies poised to shape the future of cold case work.
Combining foundational instruction with updated content for returning participants, the symposium’s planned topics include:
- Cold Case Teams and Investigations: Building teams and case inventories, identifying overlooked evidence, and investigating unidentified remains and missing persons cases, including Missing and Murdered Indigenous People cases.
- DNA Evidence and Forensic Genetic Genealogy: DNA testing fundamentals and emerging technologies, genetic genealogy, surreptitious collection, and DNA interpretation and transfer issues.
- Prosecuting Cold Cases: Practical case studies, evidentiary hurdles, hearsay, and confrontation issues.
- Ethics, Privacy, and Legal Developments: Fourth Amendment considerations, protective orders, sealing motions, genealogical privacy, and legislation affecting forensic testing.
- AI in Investigations and Court Preparation: Practical applications and demonstrations to support investigators and prosecutors.
Click here for registration and additional event information.
About Othram Inc.
Othram is an identity inference infrastructure company that converts biological and investigative uncertainty into legally defensible identity, at scale. Othram is built as a vertically integrated system spanning forensic genomics, genetic genealogy, evidentiary reasoning, and operational workflows, intentionally designed to function as a single inference pipeline under scientific, legal, and operational constraints.
In the United States, Othram works with federal partners and law enforcement agencies in nearly every state and supports investigations internationally at both local and national levels. Othram’s infrastructure connects to the world’s largest database consented for forensic genetic genealogy matching and is purpose-built to deliver reliable identity outcomes where certainty matters most.
Learn more at www.othram.com.
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