On Wednesday February 18, 2015 at just after 4:00 p.m., Scottsdale Police Department Patrol officers responded to 8526 E Monterey Way, Scottsdale reference a female that had been found by her boyfriend deceased inside the home. That female was soon identified as 31-year-old Allison Feldman and her death was quickly determined to be a homicide.
Investigators spent the next four days collecting forensic evidence from inside the home. That effort has continued for the last three years with investigators canvassing the neighborhood, talking with the community, and following up on tips in the effort to bring Allison’s murderer to justice.
Through the investigation detectives knew that Allison was killed sometime between February 17, 2015 and the early morning hours of February 18, 2015. A DNA profile was developed from evidence at the scene, but unfortunately no match was found in the current databases.
In late 2017 detectives began to work with the Arizona Governor’s Office, Arizona State Attorney General’s Office, Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, and the Department of Public Safety to expand that forensic search. The goal was to expand the parameters of the DNA search through the use of Familial DNA. “We were at a point of impasse. We were out of leads and still had a very violent offender on the loose”, Scottsdale Police Department Assistant Chief Scott Popp.
Familial DNA searches, though not used up to this point in Arizona, have been used successfully in other states in recent years. The process widens the search parameters of the offender data base to identify people that may be close relatives of the person who committed the crime. Using this process, led to Mitcham’s arrest.