DNA Bloodtest Predicts Suspects' Age:  Forensic biomedical scientists at the University of Leuven in Belgium have developed a unique test of blood samples that has the ability to predict the age of an individual within a four-year range.  Jim Drury of the Global Post reports that lead researcher Bram Bekaert and his team advanced a test that examines a set of four age-associated DNA methylation markers, testing them against hundreds of blood samples from crime victims whose age was known and correlating the chronological age.  The results determined individuals' age in the blood samples with a margin of error of 3.75 years across the age range.  A similar test was conducted on a smaller sample of teeth in which the team determined an individual's age with a margin of error of 4.86 years.  The two tests will play a critical role in narrowing down and identifying suspects in both active and cold criminal cases.

Three Violent Criminals Escape from CA Jail:  Authorities are scrambling to locate three violent criminals that escaped a Southern California maximum-security jail on Friday, marking the first escape at the jail in over 20 years.  The AP reports that Jonathan Tieu, 20; Bac Duong, 43, and Hossein Nayeri, 37, were all awaiting trial for violent crimes in unrelated cases at Central Men's Jail in Santa Ana when they disappeared from a dormitory shared by 65 other inmates shortly after an early morning headcount.  The escape is described as elaborate and sophisticated and went unnoticed for 16 hours.  The escapees include Tieu, facing charges of murder, attempted murder and shooting at an inhabited dwelling; Nayeri, charged with kidnapping, torture, aggravated mayhem and burglary; and Duong, who faces charges of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, shooting at an inhabited dwelling and being an ex-felon in possession of a firearm.  A probe is underway to determine if the men received any help from inside or outside the jail.

International Flight Passengers Skip Customs:  For the second confirmed time in recent months, passengers arriving at JFK Airport on an international flight were cleared to exit without first going through Customs and Border Protection checkpoints.  Victoria Bekiempis and Denis Slattery of the NY Daily News report that travelers on American Airlines Flight 1223 from Cancun, Mexico, were allowed to leave the airport without airline and security officials checking their bags or passports.  One passenger even approached a TSA agent to inform them what happened, but was told he was free to go.  Hours later, the passenger, and presumably others, were contacted and told to return to the airport to compete the customs process.  A similar incident occurred in November involving another American Airlines flight from Cancun, just two days after ISIS released a video threatening New York City with a terrorist attack.  The oversights confirm concerns that terrorists could slip into the United States undetected.  In a statement, the airline admitted to the security blunder but provided no information as to what they were doing to address it.

NM Gets Tough on Crime:  As states around the country ditch tough-on-crime measures, for more lenient sentencing refroms, New Mexico lawmakers are taking the opposite approach.  Morgan Lee and Mary Hudetz of CNS News report that legislators and Gov. Susana Martinez are behind 20 pieces of proposed legislation aimed at cracking down on criminals and extending prison terms for violent career felons, repeat DWI offenders, parole jumpers and crimes related to child pornography.  The package also includes a mandatory-minimum sentencing measure, expansion of the state's three-strikes law, making the targeted killing of a police officer a hate crime and adding a constitutional amendment to overhaul bail rules in the state.  Multiple polls across the state show that for the first time since the financial crisis, crime has overtaken the economy as the top concern among New Mexico residents.