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Wis. missing DNA from thousands of felons

MILWAUKEE — Mandatory DNA profiles of at least 12,000 Wisconsin felons are missing from a statewide database, according to an audit released Wednesday.

The audit was conducted after officials discovered no DNA was on file for a convicted felon now suspected in a string of Milwaukee killings.

Investigators have since found that a sample was submitted in Walter E. Ellis’ name, but the DNA and fingerprint belonged to a different inmate, said Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen.

"A sample appears to have been collected by (the Wisconsin Department of) Corrections from the wrong person," Van Hollen said in a statement.

The other inmate may have lied about his identity when submitting the sample, but it’s unlikely that’s what happened in the case of the others that are missing, said Gary Hamblin, who is administrator of the Division of Law Enforcement Services and conducted the audit.

"For those 12,000 people convicted of a felony, our records indicate a DNA sample has not been collected," he said.

About 70 percent of those people are believed to be in custody or still under state supervision and it should be easy to gather samples from them, Hamblin said. It will take more analysis to determine how to target the other 30 percent, he said.

The database has between 120,000 and 130,000 profiles, Hamblin said. Some of the missing profiles may be from people convicted of felonies but sentenced to probation, meaning they never reported to prison to have a sample taken, he added.