AI meets true crime
In late November 1987, Nashville police got a call about a revolting stench on Charlotte Avenue. What they found under a dirt-floor crawl space shocked even the most hardened crime scene veterans: two decomposing bodies, buried and forgotten beneath a broken-down home.
The address traced back to James Shaffer, a convicted rapist already serving time for kidnapping and assault. He admitted to killing the two women, claiming they had stolen from him. He gave only partial names, that is, Sheila and “Little Bit.”
There were no IDs, no missing persons reports, no fingerprints, no next of kin. The case went cold and stayed cold for nearly four decades. Even with a confession, no names meant no entries in the national database and no justice for the families.
🧬 DNA, AI and the internet: A cold case dream team
Today, powerful DNA technology, smart internet sleuthing and a little help from artificial intelligence are rewriting the story. Across the country, old cases are being cracked wide open by combining classic detective work with modern tools like genetic genealogy and AI.
Here’s the process: Police first try CODIS, the FBI’s DNA database. If there’s no match, and often there isn’t, they move to public genealogy sites like GEDMatch and FamilyTreeDNA.
Genealogists then build sprawling family trees from shared DNA, and detectives dig through old records. AI now joins the hunt, scanning decades of police reports, obituaries, social media posts and even mug shots to spot connections people might miss.
Some systems can even predict likely identities by studying migration patterns, regional matches and known associates.
👀 The break in the case
In January 2025, police exhumed one of the women for a better DNA sample. Around the same time, a woman in Elgin, Illinois, saw a forensic composite of “Little Bit” on the news. It looked like her mom, Sheila Cummings, who had been missing since the ’80s.
She called the police, provided her own DNA, and boom, the match was made.
The second woman is still unknown. Her DNA is in the system, and AI is combing every digital corner for a lead. It feels like only a matter of time.
🌹 More than victims
These women were daughters, sisters, maybe mothers. And now, thanks to an unlikely tag team of forensics, determination and a few machine-learning programs that don’t sleep, they’re finally being seen again.
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Tags: family, home, internet, social media, space
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