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Article: Unsolved Case Fingerprint Matching.(integrated automated fingerprint identification system)(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- The FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin
- Article date:
- December 1, 2000
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2000 Federal Bureau of Investigation. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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When investigators collected a latent fingerprint from a homicide crime scene in 1935, fingerprint examiners compared it to the prints of individuals suspected of committing the murder. A positive match produced strong evidence for trial and was usually the primary factor in gaining a conviction. If months of investigation failed to develop a principal subject, the print was eventually stored as a matter of evidence, along with the investigative file, in the hope that a future lead might prompt a new course of investigation. Although the FBI had an extensive collection of criminal fingerprints, no reliable method to search an unknown latent print against that collection ...