A sexual assault case resulted in a pregnancy, which was subsequently aborted. The alleged father of the fetus was unknown. Maternal and fetal types were obtained using the 11-locus AmpFlSTR SGM Plus kit. The national DNA database was searched for the paternal obligatory alleles and detected two suspects who could not be excluded as father of the male fetus. Additional typing using the AmpFlSTR Minifiler kit, containing three additional autosomal loci, was not sufficient to exclude either suspect. Subsequent typing using the PowerPlex 16, containing four additional loci, and Y-Filer kits resulted in excluding one suspect. Searching a database for paternal obligatory alleles can be fruitful, but is fraught with possible false positive results so that finding a match must be taken as only preliminary evidence. Abstract published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons.