A box has been found containing DNA samples of around 16-hundred Delaware convicted criminals which were never entered into the national data base.
That database allows authorities to connect criminals with crime scene evidence.
The Wilmington News Journal reports that the samples are from 2001 through 2012.
The paper reports that the discovery was kept a secret for years despite assurances that the transfer to the new Division of Forensic Science would be transparent.
Lisa Schwind, a member of the Commission of Forensic Science, has called for an independent review of the situation.
The transfer of evidence was supposed to have been completed by mid-2014 after the Medical Examiner’s office was found to be plagued by mismanagement and the theft of drug evidence.
