TACOMA, Wash. — She helped solve serial rape cases and murder cases in Tacoma and how she is sharing her experience in a book called, "In My DNA."
Lindsey Wade never gave up on unsolved cases. She solved serial rape cases, homicide cases and fought to fix loopholes in the national database system to prevent more crimes from happening.
Wade worked for Tacoma Police for 21 years. Her interest in crime started at an early age.
"I initially learned about Ted Bundy in high school and that point I pretty much knew that I wanted to be a detective," Wade said.
There are a handful of cases that stand out and stick with her.
"All cases had a similar thread. All cases involving young women or girls who had been victimized in some way either sexually assaulted or murdered," Wade said.
Wade worked extensively on the Jennifer Bastian case. The 13-year-old girl went missing on August 4, 1986 and three weeks later, her body was found in Point Defiance Park.
Wade decided to write her own story about working cold cases and solving them. Her book not only dives into the many cases she worked on but also dives deeper into issues she's seen firsthand.
"Where are the loopholes in our system today and we should be solving more crimes with the technology that we have today, why are we not?" Wade asked. "Do we have populations of individuals who should be in the database but they are not?"
Wade is talking about the CODIS database.
According to the FBI, "CODIS is the acronym for the Combined DNA Index System and is the generic term used to describe the FBI’s program of support for criminal justice DNA databases as well as the software used to run these databases."
Detective Wade realized Ted Bundy's DNA was not in the database. She helped facilitate that change. Bundy's DNA is now in the system in case more crimes are connected to the convicted serial killer who is no longer alive.
"Ted Bundy is a perfect example of a serial killer who was not in the database until 2011," Wade said.
In her book, Wade shares how important it is to get DNA entered, even from a known serial killer, but also to hopefully solve a case that is cold.
It’s what happened with the Jennifer Bastian case after a DNA match led detectives to her killer.
"It was really amazing for me to be able to take cases I knew growing up a kid and have the privilege of working on those cases as a detective and being able to help solve those cases 32 years later," Wade said.
Wade is having a book signing on August 19 at Peak and Stone Wine Co. in North Bend. For more information on her book, click here.