Lindsey Wade
Lindsey served as a Tacoma Police Officer for twenty-one years. She has an impressive track record of utilizing her keen investigative instincts to solve violent crimes. During her fourteen years as a detective, she investigated sexual assaults, child abuse, missing persons, and homicides. She retired in 2018 as the Tacoma Police Department’s cold case detective.
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After retiring from the Tacoma Police Department, Lindsey joined the Washington State Attorney General’s Office as a Senior Investigator assigned to the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative to pursue her passion—using DNA to solve cold cases. In 2019, Lindsey worked with state legislators to pass a new DNA law in Washington known as Jennifer & Michella’s Law.
As a subject matter expert, Lindsey has been a speaker at numerous law enforcement conferences around the country, lecturing on cold cases, sex crimes, DNA, and child abduction response.
In My DNA
Launching April 2023
In 1986, a young girl in Tacoma, Washington, Jennifer Bastian, went out for a bike ride in a local park and never came home. Later her body was found, mutilated and lifeless, but the case went cold, and Jennifer’s killer was free.
The senseless killing of an innocent girl left an indelible black cloud over Tacoma for three decades and was seared into the memory of young Lindsey Wade, also from Tacoma, who went on to become the detective who would crack the case.
Horrifying crimes against women and girls motivated Wade’s twenty-one-year law enforcement career and ignited her relentless pursuit of justice for victims. Her unique perspective as a biracial female detective gives Wade a special connection to the victims and families she’s helped over the years.
Journey with Detective Wade as she investigates shocking sex crimes and homicides in the Tacoma area, where she has been crucial in bringing new DNA evidence into each cold case. From serial rapists to cold blooded killers, Wade never backs down from the challenges these investigations present--even adding Ted Bundy’s DNA to the national database. At the heart of every lead and DNA test throughout the book, Lindsey’s desire to find Jennifer Bastian’s murderer never relents.
Finally, in 2018, dogged determination along with her unwavering passion for solving cold cases using DNA ultimately lead Wade and her team to the truth behind the thirty-two-year old mystery of who killed Jennifer Bastian.