Skip to content
ProPublica Donate
ProPublica Donate

Cold Justice

The Outrage and Promise of Untested DNA From Rape Victims

Starting in the 1970s, a Baltimore doctor quietly preserved DNA evidence from rape victims, believing science would eventually catch up. Much of it would sit for decades, ignored and unused, until a trailblazing detective and her cold-case team uncovered its secrets.

Impact of Our Reporting
Caret

Cold Justice

Maryland Is on Track to Process a Nearly 50-Year-Old Backlog of Rape Kits

A new law extends the state’s sexual assault evidence protections to cover DNA samples. But getting justice in hundreds of cold cases will require more than just testing, survivors say.

Cold Justice

Decades-Old Trove of DNA Evidence, Collected by a Maryland Doctor, Leads to a Serial Rape Arrest

A ProPublica investigation highlighted a critical collection of evidence and inspired a law to preserve it. Now, that evidence has been used to charge a man with three rapes.

Cold Justice

Maryland AG Seeks to Preserve Massive Set of Sexual Assault Evidence

Samples saved by a Baltimore doctor have been used to solve more than 80 cold cases, but evidence from 1,800 cases remains untested. The state's new attorney general and some lawmakers are acting to protect this evidence trove from destruction.

Cold Justice

How Our Investigation Into Untested DNA Evidence Helped Solve a 1983 Murder

When reporter Catherine Rentz found a 1983 article about a student who was raped and murdered, she immediately recognized the similarities to crimes committed by a serial perpetrator she’d been investigating.

Early Results on DNA Evidence From Decades-Old Rape Cases Are Both Promising and Alarming

Testing Rape Kits Can Deliver Exonerations, Closure and Cost Savings. Why Does It Still Take So Long to Do?

He Admitted to a Rape 41 Years After the Fact. For One Survivor: “It’s the Most Freeing Experience in the World”

“The Best Bargain in the History of Law Enforcement” — and the High Cost of Not Testing Backlogged Rape Kits

“A Horror Movie in Reverse”: How I Investigated Decades of Untested Rape Kits

“This Is How You Get Your Power Back”

“You Save as Long as You Have To”

“Who Is This Monster?”