Researchers and investigators will work to reduce the 3,440 sexual assault kit backlog, better understand the perpetrators of sexual violence, develop victim and survivor centered responses to sexual violence, and provide training programs for law enforcement investigating sexual assaults.
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Detectives with the Michigan State Police First District Cold Case Unit have identified a suspect in the 1982 murder of 16-year-old Kimberly Louiselle—the same man responsible for the 1983 rape and murder of Christina Castiglione.
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A ProPublica investigation highlighted a critical collection of evidence and inspired a law to preserve it. Now, that evidence has been used to charge a man with three rapes.
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“Baby Precious,” a newborn infant girl who was found deceased over a decade ago, has been identified, and a suspect has been arrested related to her death.
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Due to the condition of the remains, no conclusions could be made regarding the identity of the individual.
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U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) announced that he secured $3,365,875 to reduce and eventually eliminate the backlog of forensic DNA casework in Ohio.
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Using a 51-year-old DNA sample, bones dead and buried for 49 years, and forensic genetic genealogy technology, the Cobb County District Attorney’s Office working with DNA Labs International have identified the murderer of 9-year-old Debbie Lynn Randall.
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The National Institute of Justice has awarded a team of researchers from Penn State $770,000 to sequence the mitochondrial genomes of 10,000 Pennsylvanians. This will more than triple the size of the existing database.
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The case was reopened after the victim observed the 2015 press conference awarding the Fayetteville Police Department the Bureau of Justice Assistance’s FY2016 National Sexual Assault Kit Initiative Grant.
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They found a young man, mostly skeletonized, lying face-down. The PMI was estimated at 2 weeks to a month and the cause of death was determined to be a gunshot wound.
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The man and woman are the 1,648th and 1,649th persons to be identified by the Office of Chief Medical Examiner using advanced DNA testing of remains recovered from the attack that took the lives of 2,753 people.
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An arrest and charge has been filed in connection with the homicide of “Baby Mary,” ending a 4-decade-long cold case that started when a 1-day old infant was found dead in a park on Christmas Eve in 1984.
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Mack’s wrongful conviction is the longest to be overturned based on new DNA evidence known to the Innocence Project. The actual assailant identified by this search has since confessed to the crime.
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It has been reported that 72% of jurors anticipate seeing DNA in a sexual assault trial and that juries are 33 times more likely to convict when presented with DNA evidence.
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Faced with a rape kit backlog inching dangerously close to four-digits, the City of Phoenix has approved $3.4 million in funding to help alleviate the backlog through outsourcing.
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