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Displaying News and Event Items: 1 - 10 of 901.
Man arrested in 1998 murder of Strasburg woman; baby daughter still missing
— potomaclocal.com, Sep 29, 2025
"After 27 years, Virginia State Police have made an arrest in the cold case murder of Sylena Jo Dalton, who was found stabbed to death in her Strasburg apartment in 1998.
State police say the breakthrough came thanks to years of investigative work, advanced crime analysis, and help from several agencies—including the Shenandoah County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office and the Virginia Sexual Assault Kit Initiative."
Former Security Guard Sentenced to 16 Years for 2015 Rape at Portland Rite Aid
— Tyler Francke, canbyfirst.com, Sep 28, 2025
"A former security guard who raped a woman inside a Portland Rite Aid store in 2015 was sentenced Friday to more than 16 years in prison, closing a case that lingered for nearly a decade.The case was revived under the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative, a federal grant program that funds advanced testing for previously untested rape kits. The new testing provided the evidence needed to pursue charges against Cassinelli.
“This was an incredibly unlikely scenario for someone like Ms. Stott to get justice,” said Deputy District Attorney Quinn Zemel. He noted the initiative has made it possible to prosecute cases once considered unsolvable."
Man convicted in multiple DeKalb rapes from 1986
— Sam Daniel, yahoo.com, Sep 20, 2025
"A DeKalb County jury found Jeffrey Briney, 61, guilty on multiple charges related to two violent home invasions and sexual assaults that occurred in 1986, according to prosecutors. The charges include four counts of rape, seven counts of kidnapping, seven counts of aggravated assault, five counts of attempted armed robbery, two counts of armed robbery, one count of aggravated sodomy and three counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.
The cases remained unsolved until 2023, when the Georgia Bureau of Investigation sent previously untested rape kits to a private lab as part of a statewide sexual assault kit initiative. DNA from one of the Briarwood victims matched Jeffrey Briney in the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System (CODIS). His DNA was also linked to the Buford Highway case."
Man found guilty in 2005 sexual assault in Louisville
— Sarah Bolgan, WHAS11, Sep 16, 2025
"On Sept. 11, George Wayne Aldridge was convicted of rape (first degree) and sentenced to 15 years in prison, according to a Kentucky State Police news release.
“This is why SAKI exists today. To resurrect cold cases that are, in some instances decades old by relying on cutting-edge DNA technology combined with the relentless pursuit to hold the evil doers accountable,” Wolcott said. “This case highlights the ability to incorporate a multi-disciplinary concept that achieves results never thought of until now. This victim deserved our best efforts and we delivered. Justice delayed is still justice served.”
‘28 years to see justice:’ DNA evidence leads to conviction in Cobb rape case
— WSBTV.com News Staff, Sep 14, 2025
"A man was convicted of multiple charges, including rape and kidnapping, nearly three decades after the crime occurred in Kennesaw, thanks to DNA evidence. The incident happened as the victim was leaving her apartment. The DA said, when she opened the door, she was met by an unknown man who threw a threw a jacket over her head, pushed her back into her apartment and assaulted her in the bedroom. He then made the victim clean herself, shower, and placed some of her clothing in the washing machine and then left. After police was notified, the victim was taken to Kennestone Hospital for a sexual assault kit exam.
Despite initial investigations, the case went cold due to limitations in forensic technology at the time.
In 2018, the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative led to the retesting of the victim’s sexual assault kit, which revealed a male DNA profile. A subsequent CODIS hit in 2020 identified Pruitt as the suspect."
After 17 years, DNA tied a man to her rape. Under Massachusetts law, it was too late
— WBUR, By Todd Wallack, Willoughby Mariano, Sep 12, 2025
"Seventeen years had passed by the time Boston police knocked on Louise’s door to say they had identified the man who allegedly raped and stabbed her in October 2005.In late 2021, the Department of Justice initiative awarded Boston $2.5 million to reexamine up to 100 of the city’s most serious unsolved rapes. The funds paid a small group of investigators to comb through old case files to search for clues.
The new team revisited Louise’s rape within months. This time they determined that her case and the North End rape were similar to earlier attacks, court records show."
DNA in 1994 California sexual assault links man to 4 Arizona cold cases
— Josh DuBose, yourcentralvalley.com, Sep 12, 2025
"A 55-year-old man implicated in a decades-old sexual assault case in Ventura County has been connected to and charged in four Arizona cold cases, officials announced.
Forensic work was recently conducted on the kit as part of the Ventura County Sexual Assault Kit Initiative, with a DNA match coming back for Ramirez, authorities said. His profile was loaded into the Combined DNA Index System by the Ventura County Crime Lab, which quickly linked the 55-year-old to four unsolved cases in Phoenix between 1998 and 2013. "
Navy diver is linked to cold case rapes in California, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio
— Jack Orleans, ksbw, Sep 5, 2025
"The Ventura County District Attorney’s Office announced Friday that, following a years-long investigation, a man has been connected to two unsolved home invasion rapes occurring in Ventura in the early 1980s.
Sean Patrick McNulty, formerly of Ventura, died in 1997 in Emmett Township, Michigan, of suicide after becoming a suspect in a rape in Bloomington, Indiana, in 1993.
He was cremated, meaning his remains couldn't be used for identification.
At the request of the Ventura County Sexual Assault Kit Initiative, Bloomington investigators searched for evidence in existence in their 1993 case and located a biological sample collected from McNulty.
As part of the Ventura County Sexual Assault Kit Initiative, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office Forensic Services Bureau oversaw the testing of two sexual assault kits collected from rapes occurring in Ventura in 1982 and 1983."
Man charged in connection with 20-year-old cold case murder of pregnant woman in Cotulla
— Gabby Jimenez, Ksat, Aug 29, 2025
"A man has been charged in connection with a 20-year-old cold case murder in Cotulla, the La Salle County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release Friday.
On July 19, 2005, the body of Valerie Laguna — who was pregnant at the time of her death — was found at Cristo Rey Cemetery in Cotulla.
“Today, through advanced forensic analysis, investigators have linked a suspect to this horrific crime,” the sheriff’s office said.
In 2021, Texas Rangers identified Laguna’s case as eligible for the DPS Sexual Assault Kit Initiative program, which is funded by the Department of Justice/Bureau of Justice Assistance."
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