DNA can take police away from suspects

BUREAU COUNTY -- It can go either way. The double helix, deoxyribonucleic acid -- DNA -- can lead police to, or away from, crime suspects. For instance, it led police to the alleged killers in the Brown's Chicken massacre in 1993. At the same time, post-conviction DNA testing won the release of two Illinois inmates in a murder case. But DNA can only take investigators down a particular path if they have the DNA. For the last 12 years, DNA collection has involved blood samples, but as of Jan. 12, blood will be exchanged for saliva as new DNA collection kits become available to law enforcement agencies. No longer will county deputies have to take inmates to Perry Memorial Hospital for an invasive blood draw. Now the DNA sample collection wi