TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – More than two decades after a woman was reportedly sexually assaulted in Tampa, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office arrested a suspect.

Detectives began an investigation on March 7, 2000, after the victim reported being sexually assaulted by a man she had agreed to give a ride to near Browder Road and Henderson Road.

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Although DNA was collected, investigators were initially unable to determine the identity of the driver. All leads were exhausted and the case was ultimately closed, the sheriff’s office said.

The case gained new life in 2022, when the HCSO Special Victims Section reopened the investigation under the DNA Cold Case Prosecution Grant. The grant is awarded to law enforcement agencies to support the prosecution of unsolved violent crimes.

Detectives then worked with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and Parabon Nanolabs, a company that provides DNA phenotyping services for law enforcement, to develop a genetic family tree related to the woman’s alleged attacker.

By August 2024, researchers had a name. According to the sheriff’s office, Walter Leon Rutherford Jr., 59, was identified as a suspect.

Rutherford had been living in Missouri since 2007, but reportedly had ties to Tampa in 2000.

The Stone County Sheriff’s Office in Missouri was able to obtain a DNA sample from Rutherford thanks to a court order. Then in October, officials said it was confirmed to match the sample collected from the crime scene.

Rutherford was arrested on two counts of sexual assault on Monday, October 28, and booked into the Orient Road Jail.

“This case is a powerful reminder that time does not diminish our commitment to justice,” Sheriff Chad Chronister said in a news release. “Our Special Victims Section, with the help of modern technology, has brought closure to a victim who has waited for answers for more than 20 years. “We hope this brings comfort and peace to the victim as they continue to heal.”

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