Crime camp to inspire future investigators

“Whenever people commit a crime, people leave DNA and sometimes they don’t even know it,” Koepfler said. “We just need a little bit of DNA evidence to find out who the suspect is.”

Koepfler explained to the young group that DNA is similar to making a recipe; just like deciding what to eat for dinner, the body decides to choose brown hair or green eyes.

The camp includes a new theme each day of topics like fingerprinting, blood spatter analysis, hair analysis and other case studies with different instructors. The 21 participants aged from 10 to 13 had to pre-register for the sold-out event.

To understand the process of a crime scene DNA profile while also enjoying some sweet treats, the group practiced a crime scene DNA analysis with candy.

“Our candy stash disappeared overnight! Nobody saw the thief but they left behind a sugary trail of evidence,” Koepfler said before the activity. “In order to solve the mystery, we must interpret the genetic sequences of the suspected candy thief.”

The group used licorice (phosphate backbone) and four different colors of gummy bears (adenine, thymine, cytosine and guanine) to discover which of the four suspects stole the candy.

“We have same methods like what we just did — to collect and analyze things like blood, saliva and skin. At the crime scene, there will be a swab of a blood stain, or a cut of fabric and it will go to the forensic lab,” Koepfler said. “We then look to see what kind of fabric it is or what kind of testing we need to do.”

Jada Sparks, 12, of Kenova, said Koepfler has been another inspiration for her dream job in crime investigation or forensic science.

“The camp has been the highlight of my summer. I get to learn what people do and how they do it. It’s nice to have an opportunity now to learn about something I can do for the rest of my life,” Sparks said.

Sparks said she has been interested in crime scenes since she was toddler, as she grew up in an area that was exposed to violent crimes.

“I know how it feels to lose someone,” Sparks said. “I was so interested in watching investigators and how they were the reason families felt relief and justice.”

To show what Koepfler does at the Marshall University Forensic Science Lab — which she walked from, as it is less than a mile to Ritter Park — the group used strawberries and homemade detergent to extract DNA. The group smashed a bag of strawberries “to break the cell open” and used a detergent of dish soap, salt and water “to wash the DNA out of the evidence.”

“You can see that sometimes a lot of DNA shows up or a very little amount. It’s the same thing in the lab, as we have no idea how much DNA will come out of our testing,” Koepfler said when the group started to compare the sizes of their strawberry DNA.

She said to find DNA from bones in the lab, forensic DNA analysts crush the bone in tiny pieces and use a detergent to wash out the DNA.

GHPRD Recreation Superintendent Lauren Patrick said this was the first crime camp hosted at a park.

Koepfler said she became interested in forensic science when she was a child because of crime shows her mother watched.

“My favorite part of what I do is that I can (bring) a resolution. I can help solve crimes, but also identify remains to give the family their loved ones back,” Koepfler said about her job that she has been employed at for four and a half years. “But it is also difficult at times with the crime that we work with. It’s typically the worst days of someone’s life.”