What term describes DNA hits developed when there is no suspect information in a case?

• A. Hot Leads
• B. Cold Hits
• C. Warm Clues
• D. Unknown DNA

Answer: (B)

When DNA from a crime scene yields a match to a person in a database despite there being no suspected individual at the outset, that match is called a cold hit. It creates a new lead because investigators didn’t have a suspect to start with, and the DNA database search pointed to someone who wasn’t previously on the radar. This term specifically describes the situation where there’s no initial information about a suspect, yet a database match brings the case a step forward.

Hot leads imply an already active, strong suspicion or tip, which isn’t the case here. Unknown DNA would refer to DNA that hasn’t produced any database match yet, not to a match that emerges from a database search. Warm clues aren’t a standard forensic term. Hence, the best description for a DNA hit developed with no initial suspect information is a cold hit.