Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/610029
DECEMBER 2-8, 2015 UCW 11 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM After a sexual assault, a victim can go to the hospital and have a nurse put together a "rape kit" that includes evidence like DNA, which can be used to identify her attacker. Many of these kits go untested for a variety of reasons;however, a $363,000 federal grant now allows officers in the Fayetteville Police Department to open up a huge backlog of untested rape kits. Lt. John Somerin - dyke and Det. John Benazzi are a two-man FPD Major Crimes team devoted to using technology to solve rape cases dating back 30 years. The sexual assault cold case squad was estab - lished in June. According to Lt. Somerindyke six cases have been cleared with arrests since the team's inception. Just last week, cold case de- tectives arrested Anthony Jerome Lindsey, 49, of Fayetteville. He was charged with a sexual assault from 2006. Lindsey is serving a prison sentence for failure to report a change of address as a sex offender. Lindsey was returned to Fayetteville from the Tabor Correctional Institute to await trial for second degree rape. In another case, Dallas Walker, 57, also a registered sex offender, has been charged with rape, felony sex offense and kidnapping in three separate cas - es that occurred in 2005 and 2009. Walker is being held in the Cumberland County Detention Center under an $800,000 bond pending trial. Advances in crime fighting technology are the catalysts that drive the unit, according to Somerindyke. The conversion of years-old microfilm archives to digital PDF files restores investigation reports that have collected dust for many years. DNA from those old rape kits is now being processed at a local laboratory. The lab, operated by Integrated Forensic Laboratories of Texas, is under contract to the Fayetteville Police Department and the Cumberland County Sheriff 's Office. It's one of only a few in the state, which is good news for local law enforce - ment. Until the lab opened, local law enforce- ment was dependent on the State Bureau of Investigation's lab in Raleigh, which is over- burdened, according to Cumberland County District Attorney Billy West. Examination of rape kits can take more than a year at the SBI lab. Tests completed locally are complete in a couple of weeks according to Somerindyke. Seventeen cold case rape kits are now being tested. The team hopes to make arrests in several of those cases. In all, there are 200 kits dating back to the late 1970s awaiting digitization. Trials cannot be held without first locating the victims, which is no easy feat with the passage of time. The police department's Crime Information Center and the FBI's Combined DNA Index System have made that possible. Somerindyke says his unit has tracked down victims as far away as Geor - gia, Florida, Pennsylvania and Texas. He's traveled to meet with the victims whom he says typically have been appreciative. "I thought nobody cared," was one victim's response according to detectives. They expect to take their first case to trial early next year. "We're going to clog up the courts in efforts to get justice for victims" says Somerindyke. JEFF THOMPSON, Senior News Re- porter. COMMENTS? news@upand- comingweekly.com. 910.484.6200. NEWS The Fayetteville Police Department is using technology to solve decades-old rape cases through the use of DNA testing. Technology Cracks Cold Cases by JEFF THOMPSON 910-424-7660 Est. 2011 www.diamondtrailersales.com Before Treatment After Treatment Only four weeks after only VenaCure EVLT Treatment Other services available: • • Dr. Hari Saini • Dr. Krishnan Ramaraj The Vein Clinic at Carolina Heart and Leg Center 3637 Cape Center Drive 910.491.1763 www.CarolinaHeartandLeg.com Before Treatment After Treatment Only four weeks after only VenaCure EVLT Treatment Other services available: • • • Leg pain and leg cramps • Ulcers, wounds and blood clots • Leg/foot numbness and swelling • Poor circulation • Chest pain • Comprehensive cardiovascular assessment & treatment Before Treatment After Treatment Only four weeks after only VenaCure EVLT Treatment Other services available: • • Other services available: Before Treatment After Treatment Only four weeks after only VenaCure EVLT Treatment Other services available: • • Before Treatment After Treatment Only four weeks after only VenaCure EVLT Treatment Other services available: • • If you look at your legs and just see varicose veins, we can help. Now you can show immediate improvement on your legs by eliminating varicose veins with EVLT laser treatment. This laser procedure requires no general anesthesia or hospitalization, meaning no painful surgery or downtime. Deciding to get the safe and effective EVLT treatment is a choice everyone will notice.