Untested Podcast: Detective's Hunt for a Serial Sex Offender

The Case of the Untested Rape Kit

• 💡 In 2012, a Michigan teenager reported a rape and underwent a medical exam where a rape kit was collected.
• 🎯 A rape kit contains crucial evidence like saliva, blood, and semen, which can be used to develop a DNA profile.
• 🔑 This DNA profile can then be matched to a suspect or entered into the FBI's national database to solve crimes.

The Rape Kit Backlog Crisis

• ⚠️ Between the mid-1970s and around 2010, hundreds of thousands of rape kits were not tested, creating a significant backlog.
• 🚨 This backlog meant that many sex offenders, including serial rapists, were not apprehended and continued to assault more women.
• 🔬 The problem became known as the rape kit backlog.

Detective's Quest for Justice

• 🚀 Following a grant to test forgotten kits, a detective began investigating the Michigan teenager's case.
• 🔍 The detective discovered that the case involved a serial sex offender operating across two states, 800 miles apart.
• 🏆 The podcast "Untested" follows the detective's determined quest to bring this offender to justice.