Welcome to episode 352 of FBI Retired Case File Review with Jerry Williams.

I'm a retired agent on a mission to show you who the FBI is and what the FBI does through my books, my blog, and my podcast case reviews with former

colleagues. Today, we get to speak to retired agent Kelly Liberty Gardner, who served in the FBI

for 23 years. In this episode, Kelly reviews her investigation to identify and apprehend the unknown male who abducted a six-year-old

girl from her home and abused her before releasing her in a different neighborhood 17 hours later.

Using historical cellular analysis and familia DNA, also known as investigative genetic genealogy,

the unknown male was identified as Justin Christian. This case marked the first use of Familia

DNA in Ohio. Kelly also reviews the FBI's National Child Abduction Rapid Deployment or Card Team.

Kelly spent her entire FBI career in the Cleveland Division, where she worked primarily

violent crime and violent crimes against children, specializing in child exploitation,

child abduction, and child sex trafficking.

When she was investigating the Justin Christian case, she was one of two agents assigned

to the Illyria resident agency, where she spent six years working on all violations until the

RA closed and she was transferred back to the field office.

Kelly was a crisis negotiator for 20 years and for seven of those years served as the team coordinator.

In 2006, she was selected for the newly minted card team and deployed on cases around the country. During the last

three years of her Bureau career, she was the central team leader for Card. Kelly was also an

adjunct instructor for the FBI, certified in the areas of crimes against children and negotiations.

Kelly, a former broadcast journalist before joining the FBI, also taught media relations.

After her retirement from the FBI, Kelly spent three years working as a child forensic investigator,

interviewing close to a thousand children for law enforcement

or children's services. Currently, she works as a contract investigator on cold cases for the National

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