Written by Amanda Coers – Brown County Sheriff Vance Hill, along with District Attorney Michael Murray, and Sergeant Scott Bird, held a press conference at 10 a.m. on Thursday, November 9th, regarding new details in the Chantay Blankinship murder investigation. An image of the suspect’s physical features has been provided by Parabon Snapshot out of Reston, Virginia, a DNA Phenotyping Company that uses revolutionary new forensic DNA analysis that can accurately predict the physical appearance and ancestry of an unknown person from DNA.
Sheriff Vance Hill and District Attorney Micheal Murray agreed to contract with Parabon Snapshot, which was provided DNA from this investigation and developed a composite profile that includes eye color, skin color, hair color, face morphology, and detailed biogeographic ancestry. This composite profile is not an exact photograph of what the suspect looks like, but instead uses percentages to show the accuracy of appearance to include hair, eye, and skin color.
This profile composite shows that the suspect will have fair/very fair skin color, blue/green eyes, brown/blond hair, and will have few/some freckles. The artwork is based on a 25 year old male, but the suspect could be younger or older.
“That has narrowed the field down quite a bit,” said Sheriff Hill. “We are extremely excited about this new technology and information we have in this case.”
A sampling of the DNA specimen collected at the crime scene was presented to Parabon Snapshot on October 14th, after lead investigator Sergeant Scott Bird found information about the company through researching new DNA analysis techniques available for law enforcement.
On Saturday, May 14, 2016, the sheriff’s office received a call regarding the disappearance of Rhonda “Chantay” Blankinship, 25, a Brown County resident from the North Lake Brownwood area. Family reported last seeing Blankinship Friday in her neighborhood.
Friends, family and volunteers launched a search party the next day in an effort to locate Blankinship. Her body was located around 5:20 p.m. in a rural area approximately five miles from her home, an apparent victim of homicide.
Texas Rangers as well as agents with the FBI have been involved at various points throughout the investigation. Previous suspects in the murder case did not match the DNA found at the scene. Investigators feel it is likely the suspect is from the Brownwood area, with knowledge of that remote area where Chantay’s body was discovered, however, they have not ruled out the possibility that the suspect could have been visiting the area on a seasonal basis.
Currently investigators are waiting to see if the DNA sample obtained in this case matches with any other crimes in a national data base.
“We’re going to continue to follow up on any leads,” the sheriff promised. “We have investigators out right now following up on some leads. We’re hoping this is the break we needed.”
During the press conference District Attorney Michael Murray confirmed this would be a capital murder charge, that could be further enhanced due to other elements in the case.
“We’re going to continue working on this case until we find whoever is responsible for this murder,” Sergeant Bird told reporters. “We follow up on this case daily. It’s not something we’re going to stop working on.”
The public can contact the Brown County Sheriff’s Office at 325-646-5510 with any information they might have regarding the Rhonda Chantay Blankinship murder case.
