DNA technology solves cold case

A nearly 30 year old cold case has been solved by the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office with the assistance of the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation’s (DCI) Cold Case Team according to a press release from the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office.

On July 23, 1995, two Carbon County residents who had been camping in the area of South Spring Creek Reservoir in the Medicine Bow National Forest reported an attack by a male assailant. The male, who was armed with a rifle during the incident, committed multiple sexual assaults and other felony offenses against the two residents. The assailant ultimately left the two for dead, locked in the trunk of their vehicle. The two escaped, however, and walked approximately 10 miles to a safe location where they notified the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office.

The Carbon County Sheriff’s Office, working in conjunction with the Federal Bureau of Investigations and the United States’ Forest Service, generated multiple leads and collected evidence from the scene. While the investigate efforts from the parties was thorough, the available technology in 1995 inhibited further investigation. The sheriff’s office, however, maintained the evidence in case a suspect were ever determined.

Beginning in 2018, the DCI Cold Case Team began coordinating with Carbon County Sheriff Archie Roybal to explore using currently available technology to generate additional leads in the case. Evidence from the case, which was still in the custody of the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office, was submitted to the Wyoming Combined Laboratory and a suspect DNA profile was developed by Forensic Analysts.

According to the press release, through advances in DNA technology, including the employment of investigative techniques, a suspect was generated by DCI Agents and Forensic Analysts in August 2021. Agents traveled to Missouri to interview the suspect and were able to obtain a statement in which the suspect confirmed being in Rawlins, Wyoming in 1995 and traveling to Carbon County on other past occasions.

The suspect provided consent to the agents to obtain a DNA sample which was consistent with the suspect sample developed during initial testing. Since then, however, the suspect has died from an existing illness.

Due to Wyoming State Statute 6-2-319, which was created in 2007, the identify of the Defendant will not be publicly identified at this time. Under this state statute, a defendant in a sexual assault case may not be identified until an indictment or information is filed in District Court. The Defendant’s death occurred before this could take place. DCI Agents did meet with the two victims to provide them updated information on the investigation.

The Carbon County Sheriff’s Office, the Carbon County Attorney’s Office, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, the Wyoming Highway Patrol, the Laramie Police Department, the Saratoga Police Department, the United States Forest Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Warren County (Missouri) Sheriff’s Office, the Dent County (Missouri) Sheriff’s Office, the Iowa Department of Public Safety and the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation all assisted in solving the case.

Both Carbon County Sheriff Archie Roybal and Carbon County Attorney Ashley Mayfield-Davis expressed their appreciated in the press release for dedication and diligence of the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation’s Cold Case Team to solve the case and “provide closure to the victims and our community”.