Suspect, 61, arrested in 2004 Zuid-Holland rape case following DNA match

A suspect has been arrested in a decades-old rape case, police announced Thursday. A 65-year-old woman was raped 21 years ago in her home in the municipality of Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht in Zuid-Holland after a man forced his way into her apartment.

Thanks to DNA kinship testing, police arrested a 61-year-old man from Zwijndrecht as a suspect. Following his arrest, additional DNA testing was carried out, which produced a match with traces found 21 years ago. The suspect has been brought before the examining magistrate, and his pre-trial detention has been extended by 14 days.

Police reported that the victim passed away some time ago. Her family has been informed of the arrest.

The incident occurred on May 18, 2004. The crime was reported at the time and evidence was secured, but despite a composite sketch and the case being given extra attention through the crime show Opsporing Verzocht, the perpetrator was not found.

For the past few years, the police’s Cold Case Team has been working with the sex crimes unit to re-examine old sexual offense cases; this case is an example of that.

It is not just standard DNA testing, but specifically DNA kinship analysis (familial searching) carried out by the Netherlands Forensic Institute (NFI), which searches the DNA database for relatives of the perpetrator. According to the Public Prosecution Service and legislation, kinship analysis may be used in serious crimes, such as sexual offenses, especially when the perpetrator cannot be identified through conventional DNA testing.