The FBI used public genealogy databases in identifying Monroe County native Bryan Kohberger as a suspect in the killings of four Idaho college students, according to a published report.

Kohberger, a graduate of Pleasant Valley High School, was taken into custody Dec. 30, 2022, at his parents’ home in Indian Mountain Lake and charged in the Nov. 13 slayings of the four students in Moscow, Idaho.

Pennsylvania State Police and Monroe County authorities worked with the FBI for surveillance in the gated community for days before they moved in for the 1:30 a.m. arrest.

A knife, pocketknife, and a Glock 22 handgun with three empty magazines were confiscated from the home.

Kohberger’s car, the home, the garage and a shed on the property were all searched when he was arrested. He was extradited to Idaho shortly afterward.

The Idaho Statesmen reported Wednesday that court documents show that the FBI submitted DNA found at the crime scene to online genealogy services like Ancestry.com or 23andMe.

Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson wrote in the court document that the online genealogy sites “resulted in the lead that pointed law enforcement to” Kohberger, according to the Statesmen.

The online DNA profile that the FBI created has since been deleted, according to the Statesmen.

Kohberger, 28, was a criminology graduate student at Washington State University at the time of the killings. Washington State is just across the state line from the University of Idaho where the four victims were students.

Kohberger is charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary. His trial is scheduled to begin Oct. 2, and he could face the death penalty if prosecutors choose to pursue it.

The four victims were University of Idaho seniors Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves, 21, junior Xana Kernodle, 20, and freshman Ethan Chapin, 20.

All four students were stabbed to death at an off-campus home on where the three women lived, while two other housemates went unharmed. Chapin was Kernodle’s boyfriend and stayed over for the night.