The South Dakota Forensic Lab has identified a DNA sample collected from an attempted rape case in 2022, leading to the reopening of the case. This breakthrough highlights the crucial role of forensic science in solving violent crimes and protecting victims.
Attorney General Jackley praised the lab’s efforts, stating, “The DNA and the State Forensic Lab’s work is a significant breakthrough in solving violent crime and protecting victims in South Dakota. Our South Dakota Forensic Lab sets the national standard, is one of the only state labs with contracts to complete FBI evidence testing, and often handles the challenging cases from other states.”
The South Dakota Forensic Lab, part of the Attorney General’s Office, provides scientific services to all law enforcement agencies in the state. These services include Biology, Fingerprints, Firearms and Toolmarks, and Shooting Incident Reconstruction. The lab also oversees the state’s Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), a database managed by the FBI that contains forensic and offender DNA samples.
CODIS allows for state and national searches of DNA profiles, facilitating the identification of suspects in unsolved cases. DNA profiles entered into CODIS are continually searched against new database samples, enabling the resolution of previously unsolved cases when new matches are found.
In the 2022 attempted rape case, the perpetrator left behind an object that was swabbed for DNA. Despite exhaustive efforts by lab staff and law enforcement, no matches were found in the CODIS database for two years. Recently, however, an offender sample was added to the database, matching the 2022 case. This new information has allowed law enforcement to reopen the case pending further investigation.
Attorney General Jackley emphasized the importance of collaboration between the Forensic Lab and law enforcement agencies, stating, “The cooperation between the Forensic Lab and South Dakota law enforcement agencies is a major reason so many investigations are successful.”
You can read the full article at KXLG.