LEADS Team
Law Enforcement Assistance with DNA Services
Nora Cheek
LEADS Team Member
Nora Cheek is a retired Human Resources manager from the State of California who moved to New York in 2016.
Her post-retirement roles include local government positions, North Carolina Sea Grant analyst, and many volunteer jobs.
She became a genetic genealogist in 2013, locating her great-grandmother Nora Jackson’s family in Ireland.
For over a decade, Nora has been a Search Angel solving unknown parentage cases. She has successfully solved cases in Ireland, Austria, Germany, Italy, and many states in the US.
She is proficient in DNA software systems including tools at GEDmatch, DNAPainter, and BanyanDNA.
Nora's genealogical expertise includes Endogamous Populations and Geo-profiling.
Don Carola
LEADS Team Member
Don Carola is a graduate of Siena College with a Bachelor degree in Computer Science.
Don retired from NYS Office of Technology Information Services after 35 years.
He spent 20 of those years with the Division of Criminal Justice Services working on projects for fingerprint processing, DNA, Sex Offender and Incident/Arrest management software.
Don currently supports the Stillwater Police Department in an IT role.
He is married with 2 daughters and lives in the Town of Halfmoon New York.
Ashley Bonomi
LEADS Team Member
Ashley Bonomi is currently a student at Siena College studying Forensic Science.
She started practicing genetic genealogy through unknown parentage cases during her internship at DNA Investigations and an Independent Research Project which resulted in the identification of a biological father.
Ashley presented this project at Siena College. She hopes to be able to present it at the International Symposium on Human Identification (ISHI) as well.
Ashley volunteers at Albany Rural Cemetery. In her work there, she helps documenting grave sites on Find A Grave and assisting public events such as Cars & Crypts.
After graduation, Ashley hopes to become a forensic scientist all the while continuing to practice genetic genealogy.