• DNA
• Family History Research
• Speaking / Presenting
• Writing /Publishing

As a genealogical detective, Allison Peacock has researched genealogy in at least 15 foreign countries and counting. In addition to her groundbreaking work in investigative forensic genetic genealogy, Allison and her team at FHD Forensics accept commissions from individuals to trace personal genealogies and publish family history coffee table books in order to help fund their work in cold cases for law enforcement and archaeological teams. More information on that program is available on her personal Family History Detectives® blog.

Peacock's solved unknown subject cases include hundreds of biological parent and grandparent cases, as well as unidentified remains cases for medical examiners. Interesting puzzles solved include confirming the identity of a grand niece of Daniel Boone who was long reported to be someone else, the paternity of a man born in South Carolina in 1856, the identity of an international black market adoption survivor, a dual perpetrator Midwestern homicide case, and assisting the families of two Texas murder victims with locating the couple’s missing daughter after 41 years. That case led to the creation of a memorial fund to underwrite unidentified remains cases and the launching of Genealogy For Justice™, a 501(c)3 organization with a mission to fund cold cases.

In 2024, Allison's team was selected to upload and analyze record-setting 244 year old autosomal DNA profiles in order to study several Revolutionary War casualties from the Battle of Camden. These cases are the oldest known John Doe investigations in the world to use autosomal DNA profiles to attempt completely unknown subject identifications. Their research is already changing the record of what is known about this battle and its combatants.

Allison serves as the Advisory Board Chairman at Genealogy For Justice™ and the host of the Family History Detectives® podcast. A 2022 podcast collaboration with journalist Cristina Corbin entitled 'What About Holly?' was a Top Five true crime title on Apple Podcasts.

After transitioning to professional genealogy in 2019, Peacock leveraged her 35 years of business experience to design state of the art case and data management systems for several genealogy organizations. Under Allison's leadership, Team FHD is also known for pioneering the use of crowdsourcing for genetic genealogy investigations. This includes community relations campaigns to engage reference testing subjects and data uploads, as well as fundraising for small government agencies without the budget for investigative genealogy. Building their own database of managed reference test subjects has become critical to the kind of archaeological and historical cases that her team is known for.

In 2023, Allison demonstrated the use of genetic genealogy as a deterrent in the trafficking of persons (TIP) when she acted as an expert witness establishing the paternity of a child fathered by a Western sex tourist in the Philippines.

Peacock has been interviewed on the subject of genetic genealogy by every major American media network, appearing on broadcasts such as ABC's 20/20, GMA3, Bloodline Detectives, and CNN Tonight with Laura Coates.
 

Geographic Specialties

Brazil, England, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Poland, Slovakia, Ukraine, Eastern Europe, Peru

• 19th Century
• 18th Century
• 17th Century