If the article was referring to Neanderthals they could have spelt it out.

The information I have read about Neanderthals suggests no genetic relation with modern humans. The few Cro-Magnons they took samples from are not sufficient to conclude no genetic relations in my view. I am open to wherever the evidence goes on this.

~Salvaged DNA adds to Neandertals' mystique

"The two ancient sequences of mitochondrial DNA—inherited from the mother—contain similarities that they do not share with comparable gene sequences in modern humans, report geneticist William Goodwin of the University of Glasgow in Scotland and his coworkers. Further analysis yielded no support for a Neandertal contribution to the modern human mitochondrial DNA pool, the researchers contend."

http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20000401/fob2.asp

~Neandertals Not Our Ancestors, DNA Study Suggests

"Around 50,000 years ago, small groups of anatomically modern humans migrated out of Africa and began to colonize the rest of the world. Known as Cro-Magnons for the site in France where the earliest remains were found, these early humans co-existed with the Neandertals then living in Europe until the Neandertals became extinct roughly 30,000 years ago. What happened and why—did the two groups war, did they mate, did they even meet?—has been an enduring puzzle in the study of human origins.

A team of geneticists from Italy and Spain compared the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) of two Cro-Magnons that were 23,000 and 25,000 years old respectively, four Neandertal specimens, 29,000 to 42,000 years old, and a large database of modern human mtDNA to shed some light on the issue.

The authors found that the Cro-Magnon mtDNA fit well within the spectrum of genetic variation exhibited by modern Europeans, but differed sharply from that of the Neandertals. They conclude that it is unlikely that Neandertals contributed to the current European gene pool."

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/05/0514_030514_neandertalDN A.html