The sexual assault of a 5-year-old girl at an Anchorage park had languished unsolved for almost 30 years, but DNA evidence collected in 1994 has finally led to a suspect.
The state Department of Law, which sought the indictment, says Anchorage police initially investigated the case 28 years ago, but it went cold until the evidence was tested in 2020.
When the 1994 DNA evidence was tested, it linked the assault to a suspect in the Lower 48. Police then reopened the investigation, and the Department of Law’s Office of Special Prosecutions presented the case to a grand jury. “A lot of these cases are ones that Alaskan communities haven’t forgotten,” McCarthy said “And some will never forget, so we can’t forget about them either.”
“Often victims will feel like no one cared, or no one followed up on their report — and that simply isn’t the case,” McCarthy said. “There’s a sense of validation as well. Some victims who never knew the identity of their assailant can take comfort in knowing who that person is now, and not feeling like they’re always looking over their shoulder as well.”
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