Origins Research is owned and operated by professional genealogist Holly Tunkel. in anthropology from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and completed her graduate work in historical archaeology at the University of Tennessee and Louisiana State University. In 2012, she relocated to Santa Fe, New Mexico, where she worked for a local archaeological firm for eight years before establishing Ori
gins Research. Holly has 20 years’ experience in archaeology, forensic anthropology, historical research, and criminal investigation. She has worked at the renowned Body Farm, served as a bone identification specialist for local law enforcement, processed human skeletal remains recovered from a mass gravesite for the United Nations War Crimes Tribunal, taught taphonomic processes for an FBI agent training course, and led full-scale archaeological investigations. Holly’s genealogical work has included genetic research on several criminal cases. She has helped adoptees find their birth parents, provided information allowing individuals to connect with long-lost or previously unknown family members, and assisted police in homicide investigations. “Working in genetic genealogy made sense of my past,” she says. “I feel like I’ve been preparing for it all my life.”
From 2007 to 2012, Holly worked with Sir Peter Jackson and Lady Fran Walsh on their self-funded post-conviction investigation of the West Memphis Three. During this time, she also served as production coordinator and researcher for the associated documentary film, “West of Memphis,” which Jackson and Walsh co-produced. The West Memphis Three were released from death row and life imprisonment under Alford pleas in 2011.
