This paper studies the vibration characteristics of a cracked Timoshenko beam with a varying transverse cross-section using Differential Transform Method (DTM). The effects of the crack location and the crack size in calculating the natural frequencies and mode shapes are investigated. The result have been validated for a beam with and without the crack against those obtained from experimental modal test, Abaqus software and some other methods reported in the literature and a good agreement between the results is observed. The results show that the Timoshenko theory predicts fewer values for the natural frequencies because there is less rigidity, especially for large values of cross-section moment of inertia. Then, the inverse problem is investigated. For this reason, the position and depth of the crack of the beam with a varying transverse cross-section are estimated using the genetic algorithm and then, the natural frequencies are obtained from the modal test. It is seen that the numerical results have a suitable agreement with the actual position and depth of the crack that indicates the effectiveness of this method in determining the parameters of the crack in the Timoshenko beam.