Thousands of rape kits go untested in Indiana

416 were from victims who didn't want to proceed, 1,669 were identified as false reports, and 751 were from cases that had already gone through the court system where the suspect might have confessed. Enter Article DATE HERE More than 2,500 rape kits from potentially viable cases currently sit unprocessed in police and sheriff evidence rooms a...

Continue reading
1342 Hits

Internal audit of Minneapolis rape kit backlog highlights testing concerns

We need the BCA to be responsive to some of these kits," said audit committee Enter Article DATE HERE Updated: February 03, 2020 10:10 PM A new audit shows dozens of rape kits on the shelves of the Minneapolis Police Department have gone untested, even months after a backlog was first announced. Over the last two months, MPD said it had sent m...

Continue reading
1311 Hits

Orange police cruiser contaminated with fentanyl

  Police Department paid for a bio-hazard remediation team from Trauma Services LLC, based in Mansfield, to decontaminate the vehicle, due to the substance's extreme potency. January 28, 2020 ORANGE — A police cruiser was contaminated with fentanyl following an arrest in Orange. A person arrested Monday tried to conceal fentanyl, which ended u...

Continue reading
1625 Hits

Documents: $4,000 in military surplus misplaced in Randolph sheriff’s office

That inventory also found that a gun held as evidence and checked out by the deputy, Roy Hardt, was not in the department's possession. It was one of 21 guns checked out by deputies from the evidence collection for use on duty. The guns were not attached to active cases, Nichols said. February 1, 2020 The Randolph County Sheriff's Department will r...

Continue reading
1390 Hits

Upgrades Coming in SFPD Evidence Protection

City proposes software updates and recruitment in as first steps to solve evidence room problems February 1, 2020 The Santa Fe Police Department and the city manager have begun a series of corrective actions in response to problems in the department's evidence room. It is still unclear how many cases may have been impacted by the department's failu...

Continue reading
1281 Hits

Murder charge in cold case murder of California student

Enter Headline here January 29, 2020 FRESNO — Authorities in Fresno announced Wednesday that have filed a murder charge in the rape and killing of a college student 24 years ago. Fresno County District Attorney Lisa Smittcamp announced the charges against Nickey Duane Stane, 52, in the 1996 slaying of 22-year-old Debbie Dorian. Authorities said the...

Continue reading
Tags:
1239 Hits

Dallas Police Issue Reprimands, Suspensions for 23 Former Vice Officers

Detectives failed in 25 instances to place cash evidence or property into the property room by the end of their tour. January 29, 2020 Dallas Chief of Police U. Renee Hall disciplined nearly two dozen former vice officers Wednesday for mishandling department money used in gambling operations and for not delivering evidence in those cases to the pro...

Continue reading
1195 Hits

Dallas Police Issue Reprimands, Suspensions for 23 Former Vice Officers

Not delivering evidence in those cases to the property room. Enter Article DATE HERE Dallas Chief of Police U. Renee Hall disciplined nearly two dozen former vice officers Wednesday for mishandling department money used in gambling operations and for not delivering evidence in those cases to the property room. The investigation into suspected ...

Continue reading
1289 Hits

Disgraced Lindsay police officer Jeff Burke charged with impaired driving

Burke is currently on house arrest after receiving a 12-month conditional sentence in connection with stealing drug evidence, which was removed from the police station's evidence locker January 29, 2020 Kawartha Lakes Police Service officer Jeff Burke is in trouble with the law again. Lindsay police chief Mark Mitchell confirmed that Kawatha Lakes ...

Continue reading
Tags:
3111 Hits

LAPD officer arrested on suspicion of stealing money from woman’s backpack

Officer was arrested Monday for allegedly stealing money from a woman's backpack while officers were conducting enforcement of an illegal cannabis grow facility​ Enter Article DATE HERE LOS ANGELES — A Los Angeles Police Department officer was arrested Monday for allegedly stealing money from a woman's backpack while officers were conducting e...

Continue reading
1324 Hits

At Least 91 Convictions Involved Missing Evidence, DA Says, Casting Doubt on Sheriff’s Statements

Internal Sheriff's Department audits – kept secret for two years by the former and current sheriff – had found hundreds of instances of late or missing evidence. January 29, 2020 An ongoing review of Sheriff's Department evidence problems has found 91 cases so far where someone was convicted of a crime but "evidence was either never booked or booke...

Continue reading
1302 Hits

Video: Bremerton detective appears to pocket cash while serving search warrant

Bremerton Police Detective Jeffrey Inklebarger resigned Saturday in lieu of termination January 28, 2020 Bremerton Police Detective Jeffrey Inklebarger resigned Saturday in lieu of termination after a home security video system captured him allegedly stealing an unknown amount of cash during a narcotics search warrant in February of 2019. The homeo...

Continue reading
1464 Hits

UPDATED: Cold-case arrest made in baby’s 2007 death, four other infant homicides

"In my 40 years in law enforcement, I cannot think of a case more disturbing than this one January 26, 2020 WOODLAND — In a case they described as "chilling," "heartbreaking" and "senseless," authorities announced Monday the arrest of a man suspected of murdering his own five infant children, including a baby boy discovered in rural Yolo County slo...

Continue reading
1213 Hits

CRIME HUNTER: DNA links 'monster' to 1976 slaying

The magic elixir for solving the case was DNA and genetic genealogy. Enter Article DATE HERE On Jan. 12, 1976, Pamela Maurer left a pal's house to get a soda from a bodega. The 16-year-old vanished into thin air and was never seen alive again. Her frozen body was found the next morning on the frozen plains outside Lisle, Illinois. She had been...

Continue reading
1241 Hits

New Law Still Leaves Thousands of Rape Kits Untested

According to the Office of the Attorney General, there are over 6,000 untested sexual assault evidence kits in Maryland. January 20, 2020 A law requiring law enforcement agencies to submit qualified rape kits for testing within 30 days of receipt will become effective in January 2020, but it does not address the thousands of untested kits currently...

Continue reading
1437 Hits

Arraignment set over for suspected serial killer in 1974 murder case

Using DNA evidence from Martha Morrison's half-brother, sister and the exhumed body of her father, investigators were able to identify the decades-old remains July 7, 2015. January 10, 2020 Arraignment for suspected serial killer Warren Forrest, who's accused in the slaying of 17-year-old Martha Morrison in the 1970s, was set over Friday to Feb. 7....

Continue reading
Tags:
1475 Hits

Five years later, authorities address rape kit backlog in Flint

Leyton said in the last five years, they've been able to process all 736 backlogged rape kits, sending them to the lab. Enter Article DATE HERE FLINT, Mich — In 2015, between 230 and 250 untested rape kits were found in the city of Flint. The police chief at the time, Jim Tolbert, said authorities in the past dropped the ball. "When we were al...

Continue reading
1225 Hits

Emerging field of ‘forensic genealogy’ links DNA testing and family histories to solve cold cases

Packed with DNA, hair is quickly becoming a powerful source to help catch lawbreakers. January 18, 2020 SANTA CRUZ — When they're planning to rob a liquor store, most criminals think to wear gloves and cover their faces. But few of them commit to shaving their heads to avoid leaving behind even a single strand of hair. In the future, however, they ...

Continue reading
Tags:
1440 Hits

Philadelphia To Pay $4.15M To Man Over Wrongful Conviction

"It's a happy moment for me. It's been a long hard fight," January 3, 2020 PHILADELPHIA (AP) – The city of Philadelphia has agreed to pay $4.15 million to a man who spent 24 years in prison for a murder he didn't commit, one of the largest such payouts in city history. City officials agreed last week to settle a civil rights lawsuit filed by Shaurn...

Continue reading
1239 Hits

Former U.P. police officers face felony charges for alleged steroid use, distribution

The men were caught after one of their cell phones was searched during an investigation into prescription drugs missing from a police department take-back box, January 17, 2020 MARQUETTE, MI – Two former Upper Peninsula police officers are facing felony charges related to using and selling anabolic steroids, which are schedule three controlled subs...

Continue reading
1268 Hits

Report: Police department evidence room has serious issues

Issues with the evidence room came to light after the department discovered it lost evidence in the 2017 Selena Valencia murder case. January 11, 2020 The Santa Fe Police Department's evidence room is understaffed, its employees are undertrained, items are held in no logical order and at least one area is secured with only a $10 Master Lock, accord...

Continue reading
2163 Hits

Man arrested for 19-year-old cold case murder

"After all these years, my dad will finally be able to rest in peace and our family will be able to rest a little better at night knowing that the person who did this is finally getting what he deserves, January 14, 2020 OMAHA, Neb. (FOX 42 KPTM) — The family of a man who was murdered 19 years ago is now getting justice. Metro Area Fugitive Task Fo...

Continue reading
1321 Hits

Clovis Police detective charged with embezzling

In December,  Capt Romero found $144 in crumpled cash while searching Hernandez's desk in his office; Romero was looking for drug paraphernalia that had gone missing in an unrelated case. January 14, 2020 CLOVIS, N.M. — A Clovis police detective has been charged with embezzling $166 from a man he arrested in June. Francisco Hernandez, 33, face...

Continue reading
1809 Hits

Boswell police officer arrested for pawning department firearms

Karr pawned four department weapons. January 17, 2020 BOSWELL, Okla. (KXII) - A Boswell, Oklahoma, police officer was arrested Monday accused of pawning department firearms. The Oklahoma State Bureau Of Investigation tells us an investigation last month revealed Shawn Karr pawned four department weapons. The 33-year-old was arrested Monday at Boswe...

Continue reading
1508 Hits

Margate cop fired after cocaine went missing

Investigators determined nothing had been turned into the agency's property evidence room. January 11, 2020 A Margate police officer has been fired after falling under suspicion of taking a man's cocaine and later testing positive for drugs, according to newly released police records. An anonymous police employee tipped off the police department ab...

Continue reading
Tags:
2111 Hits

Former Mansfield OSHP trooper indicted on 3 criminal charges

"it was found that you mishandled seized prescription drugs and were untruthful when asked about their whereabouts, January 8, 2020​ MANSFIELD -- A former Ohio State Highway Patrol trooper at the Mansfield post has been indicted on three felony charges after an internal investigation into missing drugs seized at a car stop. According to a Dec. 27 t...

Continue reading
1591 Hits

SDPD Crime Lab Manager Is Officially Out Following Rape Kit Testing Scandal

After arguing for years that there was no value in testing the roughly 2,000 untested rape kits in its possession, SDPD eventually began testing certain kits due to pressure from elected decision-makers. January 7, 2020 The longtime manager of the San Diego Police Department's crime lab no longer works for the department. Her departure is the lates...

Continue reading
1381 Hits

Sheriff's department prepares to destroy unclaimed weapons

Leer said anyone with ownership interest or can prove ownership should contact the Boone County Sheriff's Department by Jan. 10 and ask to speak with the evidence custodians. January 7, 2020 COLUMBIA — The Boone County Sheriff's Department said Monday it is preparing to destroy any weapons left unclaimed by Jan. 10. For more than a decade, departme...

Continue reading
1135 Hits

Santa Fe police awaits results of evidence room audit

Jennifer Burrill, vice president of the New Mexico Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, said a third-party audit is a step in the right direction for the department. January 4, 2020 More than six months after the Santa Fe Police Department told the District Attorney's Office it had lost evidence in a first-degree murder case, it's still unknown ho...

Continue reading
1678 Hits

What's lurking in TPD's evidence room? 'You name it, we got it'

Property cards dating back to the early 1900s provide a log of everything once there. Enter Article DATE HERE Every time Sgt. Edward Mack passes the box of evidence in Jane Doe's unsolved 1987 homicide, he raps his knuckles on the cardboard and tells her, "I'll find you." And sometimes, she seems to answer back — once after pulling her box he ...

Continue reading
1818 Hits

Arrest made in 2005 cold case murder of 79-year-old woman in Pasco County

He lived about two blocks away from Bobrick and was tied to these crimes with a few key pieces of evidence; including one of his hairs found in her home. December 27, 2019 ASCO COUNTY, Fla. — A more than 14-year-old cold case murder investigation was heating up in Pasco County on Friday. Brian Stoll, 34, was arrested and accused of beating to death...

Continue reading
1307 Hits

New DNA Evidence Solved 36-Year-Old La Mesa Cold-Case Murder

Police closed the case in 1984 and it went unsolved until 2017, when the department reopened the case and conducted a full review of the evidence, December 16, 2019 New DNA evidence helped La Mesa police solved a nearly 36-year-old cold-case murder, officials announced Monday. La Mesa police said William Mambro was stabbed to death during a residen...

Continue reading
1501 Hits

Trump signs bill to help eliminate backlog in rape kit testing

More than 100,000 rape kits remain untested. January 1, 2020 President Donald Trump has signed into law legislation that provides funding to help states eliminate backlogs in rape kit testing. The measure, signed Monday, will help deal with the more than 100,000 rape kits across the country that remain untested. Advocates say that, without proper f...

Continue reading
1370 Hits

Did OC Sheriff Don Barnes sit on evidence audit to further his 2018 election campaign?

He calls the charge by an assistant public defender 'scandalous conjecture,' insisting he did not hide findings from the damaging audit December 30, 2019 An internal audit showing Orange County sheriff's deputies systemically mishandled evidence arrived in March 2018 while then Undersheriff Don Barnes was campaigning for the sheriff's job. As Barne...

Continue reading
1332 Hits

Police search for owners of caged lizards found on Massachusetts street: 'This is not a misprint'

​Got Something - Your may not want! December 29, 2019 Police in Massachusetts are searching for the owner of several lizards that were found abandoned in cages on a street. The Stoughton Police Department posted photos of the reptiles on its Facebook page and asked for the owners to claim them. "Have you ever walked down the street carrying your li...

Continue reading
1416 Hits

Snatched beer mug, genealogy website help Douglas County detectives make arrest in 1980 murder of college student


Detectives used online genealogy databases and help from private companies to wade through Clanton's unorthodox family and numerous aliases to identify him as the suspect. December 28, 2019 A secretly snagged beer mug — and the DNA it carried — was the final piece of evidence the Douglas County sheriff's detectives needed to arrest a Florida man in...

Continue reading
1541 Hits

Forensic Felons: Criminals in the Oregon Crime Labs

Larsen pled guilty to tampering with evidence and theft of Schedule II type drugs through direct access to evidence in lockers while working out of Bend and Pendleton Oregon December 27, 2019 Nika Elise Larsen, a forensic scientist and crime scene investigator for Oregon State Police Crime Lab, faced a federal court on Aug. 15, 2016. Larsen pled gu...

Continue reading
1918 Hits

Old Town Police Department Receives High Honors From The State

At the Old Town Police Department, is something of a Cinderella story December 18, 2019 In some ways, the scene at the Old Town Police Department, is something of a Cinderella story. They've gone from probably their lowest point ever, to as high a point as a police department can go. And it seems from here, the sky's the limit. Just a few years ago...

Continue reading
Tags:
1514 Hits

Surveillance Footage of Jeffrey Epstein's First Suicide Attempt Has Gone Missing (Missing Evidence!)

"We want to be sure that all the evidence is preserved to show that Nick behaved appropriately and even admirably that evening, December 18, 2019 The New York Post has learned that the surveillance footage taken outside the cell of Jeffrey Epstein during his first alleged suicide attempt at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York has gone ...

Continue reading
1629 Hits

Nearly $900 found in Lawrenceburg returned to rightful owner thanks to man's good deed

The Lawrenceburg Police Department knew when they posted about it on Facebook, they needed to be vague yet specific December 15, 2020 LAWRENCEBURG, Ind. (WKRC) - Nearly $900 found in downtown Lawrenceburg is back with its rightful owner. The Good Samaritan who discovered the cash only hesitated for a moment before turning it over to police. Decorat...

Continue reading
1345 Hits

Alleged drug dealer throws loose fentanyl powder at cop’s face

"The officer exhibited fentanyl-related symptoms, including nausea and shortness of breath and was treated by emergency responders," December 15 An alleged narcotics dealer tossed a handful of deadly fentanyl powder at a cop investigating a Bronx drug packaging mill, authorities said Thursday. Members of the New York Organized Crime Drug Enforcemen...

Continue reading
2520 Hits

DNA Used to Solve Decades-Old Cold Case Murder of 11-Year-Old Julie Fuller

Victim, family were staying in an Arlington hotel after recently moving to North Texas from England December 14, 2019 Fort Worth police say they've solved the decades-old cold case murder of an 11-year-old girl using DNA phenotyping. On June 27, 1983, Julie Fuller was reported missing after she'd gone to take out the trash at the Kensington Motel i...

Continue reading
1957 Hits

Man arrested in connection with 37-year-old cold case

"The implication of being able to solve these cases is immense. December 13, 2019 SALT LAKE CITY — Authorities in Salt Lake City made an arrest in a 37-year-old cold case, according to a press release issued Wednesday. Detectives from the Salt Lake City Police Department Homicide Squad said they have arrested Bryan Reed, 55. Reed is currently await...

Continue reading
1724 Hits

More than half of police, prosecutors miss N.Y. rape kit deadline

Gov. Andrew Cuomo and state lawmakers approved a law last year requiring the timely testing of rape kits, which contain physical evidence collected from the body and clothing of a victim in a possible sexual assault. December 13, 2019 ALBANY, N.Y. — More than half of New York's police agencies and prosecutors to report the number of untested sexual...

Continue reading
1435 Hits

NJ-Based Aunt, Cops Help ID Remains of Child in Decades-Old Cold Case

The young girl's death was ruled a homicide. December 12, 2019 After nearly half a century, New Jersey State Police used newly gathered DNA evidence from a hopeful aunt to help investigators in San Francisco identify the remains of a murdered 14-year-old girl. It was Oct. 1, 1976, when a man walking his dog "discovered a hand protruding from the sa...

Continue reading
1362 Hits

Man arrested, charged in connection to 1992 St. Paul unsolved homicide (DNA)

In 2012, the Ramsey County Attorney's Office opened a specialized unit focused on closing cold cases. December 13, 20-19 Updated: December 11, 2019 10:09 PM A man has been arrested and charged in connection to the 1992 death of Annette Seymour, according to attorneys and court records. A criminal complaint filed in Ramsey County, states John Robert...

Continue reading
1315 Hits

Convicted killer charged in grisly 1980 killing of teen mom (DNA)

Charges come after DNA match in cold case December 13, 2019 Nearly 40 years after a 19-year-old mother was raped and killed in a Boston hotel room, the man authorities believe is responsible for her death has been charged, the Suffolk District Attorney's office announced Thursday. Steven Fike, a convicted rapist and murderer currently imprisoned in...

Continue reading
1463 Hits

Kentucky State Police troopers claim fellow officers stole evidence

The only stolen evidence specifically identified in the suit are three pairs of Eddie Bauer shoes. December 12, 2019 LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – Three Kentucky State Police commanding officers have filed a whistleblower lawsuit against the state and department, claiming they were retaliated against for reporting that troopers were stealing evidence se...

Continue reading
1424 Hits

OC sheriff’s officials selective in punishing deputies who mishandled evidence over two-year period

Deputies in the 'cool kids club' were spared, while others were scapegoated, ex-sergeant testifies in confidential hearing December 6, 2019 Orange County sheriff's officials selectively punished deputies who mishandled evidence over a two-year period, protecting some employees deemed to be in the "cool kids club,"' according to recent testimony dur...

Continue reading
1447 Hits

Greenville (NC) police lose evidence in 1975 Looper murders amid review of the case

Greenville Police Department has been unable to find the evidence after searching investigator work stations, case files, and storage areas. December 5, 2019 A recently discovered letter that could implicate a former Greenville County sheriff and members of his team in the 1975 murder of a deputy and his father is missing. Greenville police found t...

Continue reading
1608 Hits

Search IAPE

Blotter - Latest News

This login form is for IAPE Staff ONLY!