DNA match: Suspect arrested 17 years after brutal rape

A 57-year-old man was arrested in Limburg on Tuesday morning for brutally raping an 18-year-old woman in 2002. He was arrested after a DNA match, the police said in a statement.

The man and the woman were involved in a car crash in Horst on September 17th, 2002. The woman's car was damaged to such an extent that she could not drive it any further. The man offered to give her a lift home. Instead he took her to a forested area, where he raped her.

Investigators managed to collect DNA material from the crime scene. But the DNA did not match any in the police systems. Despite extensive investigation, no suspect was arrested.

Early this year there was a match between the DNA found at the crime scene and the suspect. The man gave a DNA sample last year after a vandalism conviction.