When recovering the car the cop just was really rude then the forensic officer just blew me off he lifted 3 finger prints and was done I had to point out to him the grape faygo can in the back seat and tell him that wasn‘t mine but maybe DNA could be on it. It was almost as if I was bothering him and he was just going through the motions. Has anyone ever been through this where the person was caught because of finger prints and if so how long did it take? It‘s been a full 24 hours since they tooke the prints now.
DNA matches cost money, and anyone with their DNA in a database is going to be someone who already committed a crime far worse than stealing car, and isn't going to be the type who drank Faygo. There are higher priorities for police resources. Was the joy ride car wrecked, or just found abandoned? Finding the car at all is lucky on your part, some cars you'll find but they are torched afterwards.
Unless you live in a small town, or your car was stolen during a big rash of stolen cars (possibly by a car theft ring) there is no realistic consideration that the police will submit any forensic evidence for examination on your recovered stolen car. First of all the was RECOVERED. That means either you (or the insurance company) got something back. Unless you are in a small towns, most cities experience thousands of stol;en cars annually. There is just not enough time to devote to investigating single car thefts. It is off course different if there is a pattern of thefts that yields some investigative potential, or there is a known suspect. Also, real life is not like TV. DNA testing is a time consuming process, and most cities and states have understaffed and overworked laboratories. I have waited months to get DNA results back on Homicides. And, computers don't ID fingerprints. AFIS computers select a list of potential candidates and a human examiner has to compare the print and make the ID. Many (maybe most) latent prints don't have sufficient ridge detail to even be entered into the AFIS system. To get prints into the system on a nonviolentccrimecould take several wweeksto several months, depending on where you live. When I was a line squad detective, I arrested lots of criminals (all types) based on fingerprint identification. But the only car theives I caughtin that way were prolific professional car thieves, who usually had the cars chopped before they were reciovered. In those cases, actually recovering and processing a car was valauable. I have been a detective for the last 30 years. I spent 6 years as a crime scene unit supervisor, and I can't imagine tying up valuable lab time on a case like yours. The time and expense involved in DNA testing, especially without a known suspect can't be justified in this case. Sorry, but that is the reality of the situation.
That's why you pay insurance. Chances are you'll never see the car again. If they catch the guy down the road, they may be able to pin it on him then.
