OAN’s Taylor Tinsley
3:45 PM – Monday, February 26, 2024
Project Justice is helping solve decades-old cold cases around the country.
Advertisement
Based out of Las Vegas, Nevada, Project Justice has helped solve over two dozen cold cases by funding the re-evaluation of evidence with the newest DNA technologies.
Vegas tech mogul Justin Woo co-founded the organization with his wife Lydia Ansel, a DJ/Electric Violinist.
The pair said the nonprofit started out as the “Vegas Justice League,” where they worked with the local police department to help solve cold cases.
The nonprofit raises funds for Othram, a forensics lab that specializes in “genetic genealogy to resolve unsolved murders, disappearances, and identification of unidentified decedents or murder victims.”
Woo and Ansel’s first assist came in 2021, when their funding helped solve the 32-year-old murder of Vegas native Stephanie Isaacson.
The 14-year-old went missing in 1989 and the only evidence that police had to go on was a tiny amount of DNA on her shirt.
Ansel said the case was practically considered unsolvable.
“They had tried solving it a few times but the technology hadn’t caught up with the processes,” Ansel said. “Every time you use the DNA to test it, it actually consumes the DNA so there was very, very, very little left… about 0.12 nanograms.”
The sample was the smallest amount of DNA ever used to solve a case.
“Just to give you a quantification of how much that is,” Woo said, “if you were to do a ‘23andMe’ or consumer swab you’d get about 750-1,000 nanograms of data.”
After raising funds to help solve Isaacson’s murder, Woo and Ansel quickly saw the overwhelming need from law enforcement around the country, expanding their nonprofit to Project Justice.
“Just seeing how much of an impact we could make simply by funding these cases, the technologies out there, people need the help, people want the answers and it’s just pushed us forward to continue doing it,” said Ansel.
Project Justice also helped identify a victim of the infamous “Scorecard Killer” in late 2023, almost 50-years after the murder.
Over the last year, Project Justice has helped solve 26 cases, with 100 more currently under evaluation.
Woo and Ansel said that the nonprofit also brought the community together and made those who donated feel as if they had a part in solving the case.
The couple even said that for their wedding instead of receiving gifts they asked their guests to donate to cold cases, which helped solve two murders.
“It was nice to be able to send an email out to all of the people that donated saying they helped solve two murder cases in Las Vegas,” said Woo.
If you’d like to reach out or donate to the cause, check out ProjectJustice.com
Stay informed! Receive breaking news blasts directly to your inbox for free. Subscribe here. https://www.oann.com/alerts
Be the first to comment