Rome police think they’ve cracked a 13-year-old cold case, thanks to some new technology and solid police work.
Wayne Allen Crawford, 44, of 312 Pennington Ave., was in jail Thursday night on charges of rape and aggravated sodomy in connection with the decade-old case, according to Floyd County Jail records.
The incident for which Crawford is charged occurred in 1993 when an unknown assailant crept up on a woman as she slept. “She was asleep on the couch, and the guy broke in, woke her out of her sleep and blindfolded her,” said Stephanie Hill-Hudson, a detective with the Rome Police Department.
The assailant then raped and sodomized the victim, who could not identify the man because she was blindfolded.
Police collected DNA evidence from the woman and interviewed a number of people but weren’t able to come up with any real suspects, Hill-Hudson said. After 13 years, it seemed unlikely they would ever have one.
That all changed in January when Crawford’s DNA popped up in a federal database as a match for the DNA from the rape.
Since 2000, DNA swabs have been taken from almost all Georgia felons when they enter the prison system. The convicts’ profiles are then placed in the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Combined DNA Index System or CODIS.
CODIS acts like a fingerprint database for DNA profiles, enabling local, state and federal law enforcement agencies to compare profiles electronically.
When Crawford had a swab taken as he entered Dooley State Prison on unrelated charges, his DNA profile was entered into CODIS. It matched the profile of the rapist, Hill-Hudson said.
For Hill-Hudson, the knowledge was a welcome surprise. The incident was her first rape case as an investigator more than a decade ago.
“I was thinking ‘Oh Lord,’” she said. “I couldn’t believe it.”
But the first match itself wasn’t enough. A second test was needed to confirm the results, and detectives had to find the victim and see if she still wanted to press charges.
Neither proved to be a problem, Hill-Hudson said.
“Once we found her she was more than willing to go forward with it.” Because the state’s statute of limitations doesn’t apply in cases with DNA evidence, the case can go forward.
Officials then placed a hold on Crawford. Following his release from prison, he was brought to Floyd County Jail for additional testing.
Notification on the second set of DNA samples from Crawford came through Wednesday. “It was either him or his identical twin,” Hill-Hudson said, “and he doesn’t have one.”
She hopes this case will give other victims who have seen their cases languish over the years something to celebrate.
“It’s a good message to get out to people who are victims,” she said. “One day we may actually find out who committed the crime.”
Crawford is being held without bond.
