The sample challenges the scientific theory that DNA can't survive longer than one million years.

It's not clear when the DNA match was made, but Hanover police arrested a man from West Grey on Tuesday.

Lloyd Strickland, the province's assistant director of public prosecutions, says the chief medical examiner's office was notified by the RCMP on Sept. 30 that DNA from one homicide victim had surfaced in another case.

The deceased, a 43-year-old man from Saint John, New Brunswick, had been reported missing late last summer.

Phillip Levac's DNA, along with blood stains and unconfirmed traces of semen, was also found on the bedding.

Chief Mi'Sel Joe says the study offers an opportunity to compare oral stories that trace family histories back to the Beothuk - widely thought to be extinct - with scientific evidence.

This is the first time DNA submitted to the national DNA data bank has been successfully used to identify human remains in Canada.

Police used DNA from the spoon to link one suspect to two violent sexual assaults from 1997, according to a district attorney in California.

While the trend has populated the news with heartwarming stories of reunited family members, it also has posed ethical questions about situations that were supposed to remain private.

An online DNA database brought two Alberta friends closer than they ever thought possible.