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The rapes happened in 1993 and 1997 in a large park. DNA evidence and the Texas Department of Public Safety crime lab reports suggested the crimes were related, and a DNA profile was submitted to the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) in 1999.
Finally, in August 2023, the search yielded results, and police arrested a suspect. The department brought multiple charges against him, and the cases are actively going through Denton County’s 16th Judicial District Court.
Meanwhile, 356 miles away, Odessa had an unsolved 2015 rape case and, just before summer ended, arrested a suspect whose DNA match showed up in another jurisdiction, according to the police department. The Sept. 13 announcement said that a DNA profile was sent to CODIS after the crime was committed.
Shortly after, San Marcos police made an arrest in a 2004 rape case as reported by FOX 7 Austin. That case investigation also went through the DPS crime lab and a profile was submitted to CODIS.
In addition to following this practice, these entities are all involved in the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI), a federal grant program to help clear rape kit backlogs, according to an in-depth report on sexual assault kit tracking technology by Government Technology.
A sexual assault evidence kit, also known as a rape kit, is a collection of biological evidence after a reported sexual assault and can include swabs and test tubes of bodily fluids, blood and skin transfer from the perpetrator as well as evidence collection envelopes for hairs and fibers.
Many such kits have languished untested on the shelf, including the famous example of an 11,000-kit backlog in Detroit.
The rape kit backlog includes unanalyzed forensic evidence that has either not been sent to a crime lime or has been sent but not tested. Once these kits are tested, a crime lab creates a DNA profile and adds it to CODIS.
Texas has been tracking sexual assault evidence and reporting on it since late 2019, so all involved can be informed while helping to close caseloads across the state.
The Track-Kit system is run by the Texas Department of Public Safety, and from September 2019 to November 2023, 32,463 kits had been recorded in the system, of which 601 weren’t yet submitted for testing, 313 were past due for delivery to the lab and 1,451 weren’t tested after 90 days, violating the state’s testing requirement.
Tracking systems across the U.S. not only inform survivors, law enforcement agencies and prosecutors where the kits are, they also allow states to ensure sexual assault investigation laws are followed.
Law enforcement in Denton, Odessa and San Marcos all used tracking systems, finally resulting in arrests. This required not only DNA submission and the technology to track and match profiles, but interlocal and interstate cooperation, time and patience.
This story was localized from Government Technology, a sister publication of Industry Insider — Texas. Read the original here.
