Rape Kits Investigation: Who’s involved, the indictments, and how it began

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Cuyahoga County prosecutors and investigators are revisiting decades-old unsolved rape cases, using DNA evidence to connect serial rapes, tracking down victims and sending cases to grand juries for indictment – often racing against a 20-year statute of limitations.

$4M plan to test forgotten Detroit rape kits

LANSING (WWJ) – Gov. Rick Snyder has announced a plan to use $4 million in state funds to test thousands of rape kits that were left forgotten in a Detroit storage facility.
Speaking alongside Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worth and Attorney General Bill Schuette, Snyder said the money will come from a $4 million infusion into the state Forensic Laboratory Fund that will be included in a supplemental budget proposal submitted to the Legislature.

Minnesota BCA asks kin of missing loved ones for DNA samples to help ID remains

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said Thursday it is asking family members of missing persons to provide DNA samples as part of an effort to identify at least 100 sets of human remains, with the goal of bringing missing loved ones back home.

Idaho State Police DNA lab closing backlog in processing

MERIDIAN, Idaho (KBOI) — The Idaho State Police DNA lab is expected to finish off its backlog of samples by July.
The timing is important because on July First, Idaho law will require all convicted felons to submit a DNA sample for the national database.

Chicago-based nonprofit seeks action on countless untested rape kits

Julie Smolyansky recently launched a nonprofit organization to raise awareness and promote solutions for the high number of untested rape kits that remain in police departments across the country, specifically in Cook County.
Smolyansky, CEO of Lifeway Foods in Morton Grove, founded Test400k because she wanted to create discussion about these untested rape kits, which seem to be ignored by society.

Broadened DNA law aids crime-solving, including cold cases

The recent arrest of a suspected serial rapist illustrates the crime-fighting benefit of broadening Nebraska’s law on collecting DNA from convicted felons, authorities say.
A year after the Nebraska State Patrol conducted a record 8,700 DNA tests on felons, it made an unprecedented 75 matches to the DNA database maintained by the FBI. That enabled the State Patrol to provide local law enforcement agencies in Nebraska and elsewhere with key information to solving outstanding crimes, some of which had long grown cold.

Rape Kit Backlog: Our National Problem

Thousands of rapists could be walking free because no one is looking for them and the evidence of their crime will likely go untested. The evidence of hundreds of rapes sits on evidence shelves in police departments across Oklahoma, some are backlog due to lack of resources to perform testing.

KBI Makes Push For Crime Lab Funding

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation is hoping that more than a decade of efforts to build a new crime lab and replace the cramped, limited confines of an old 1928 Topeka junior high school are about to come to fruition.

Robotics cuts crime lab backlog

Mar 24, 2013 (Dayton Daily News – McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) — A $500,000 robotics system has cut the turnaround time for DNA evidence analysis at the Miami Valley Regional Crime Lab from a six months back log to completion in two to four weeks. The faster turnaround means innocent suspects are ruled out quicker and charges brought sooner against alleged criminals.

Alameda County Receives Grant To Reduce Rape Kit Backlog

OAKLAND (CBS / AP) — The Alameda County District Attorney’s Office announced Wednesday that it has received a $1.5 million grant to reduce its backlog of unanalyzed rape kits.