The Origin of Indago
In 2013, then FBI Attorney Steve Kramer read a newspaper article about a series of homicides and violent rapes that occurred up and down the state of California. Thirteen innocent people dead. Over 50 rape victims living in fear. Traditional investigative methods had proven ineffective. Kramer worked for the most prestigious law enforcement agency in the world. Why can’t the cops solve this case?
Consider this:
Approximately 650 Detectives. No Justice.
Fifteen different law enforcement agencies spent 43 years, 200,000-man hours and $10M trying to figure out who did it. They assembled a list of 8,000 potential suspects, and ruled 300 of them out through traditional DNA testing. After all of this effort, the killer remained at large. No answers for the victims and their family members.
After only 63 days
Kramer took a different approach, and assembled and led a team of 6 people, spent $217, and identified Joseph James DeAngelo as the infamous Golden State Killer. On April 24, 2018, DeAngelo was arrested, and has since pleaded guilty to his crimes. He is now serving life in prison. How did they do it? Through what some call the most innovative investigative technique since fingerprints: Genetic Genealogy.
Genetic Genealogy
The phones at the FBI were ringing off the hook. Kramer teamed up with then Special Agent Stephen Busch to solve more cases, refine a process, and establish a national program. After solving dozens of previously "unsolvable" cases, training thousands of investigators, and lecturing all over the world, Busch and Kramer pushed this new technique to its natural limits. A growing mountain of unsolved cases made it clear – doing this manually was just not fast enough...
R. Stephen Kramer
Co-Founder, President
FBI in house counsel, 20 years, where he was responsible for legal matters in the FBI's criminal and national security investigations, and oversaw the FBI's investigative techniques and strategies. Previously Mr. Kramer worked as a federal prosecutor, and deputy district attorney, where he prosecuted homicide cases, corporate fraud cases and national security cases. After assembling and leading the team of investigators that solved the notorious Golden State Killer case, he finished his career at the FBI as the cofounder of the FBI’s forensic genetic genealogy team. Mr. Kramer has an accounting/finance degree from the University of Arizona, a JD from California Western School of Law, and a MBA from UCLA.
The Team
Stephen Busch
Co-Founder, CEO
FBI Special Agent, 19 years. Co-founder of the FBI’s forensic genetic genealogy team, and architect of the FBI’s National FGG program. Previously Mr. Busch worked investigative assignments including counter terrorism and complex financial crimes. He also honed his leadership skills as a SWAT Sniper Team Leader, routinely solving multifaceted problems in high threat environments. He departed the FBI pre-retirement to develop market disrupting Automated Identity Resolution software. Former Civil Engineer. He has a BS in Engineering from Cornell University and was a captain on Cornell's football team.
So Kramer and Busch, with decades of combined experience building elite teams and careers' worth of contacts with top talent across industries, left it all to innovate yet again, changing a technique that can help many into something that will completely change the game. The idea of Indago was born.