NILES, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — A suspect has been arrested in connection to two Florida rape cases that took place in the late 90’s in Florida thanks to a DNA ancestry test.
The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office announced the arrest of 61-year-old Robert Brian Thomas in Niles, MI Wednesday. The arrest is the result of a long collaborative investigation between the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office and Venice Police Department in Florida.
Thomas is the suspect in two different rape cases, one in Pinellas County in 1998 and another in Venice in 1999.
DNA evidence from both cases were a match, but no suspect was identified in either of the cases. In the years following both cases, almost 100 suspects were questioned, but all were ultimately cleared in the investigation.
In Fall 2018, investigators entered the DNA evidence profile into an ancestry database called GEDMatch.com. Unlike other website such as Ancestry.com, GEDMatch connects DNA profiles to every ancestry database available.
After entering the profile into GEDMatch, a distant relative to the suspect was found in Oscala, Florida. After a long search of narrowing down members of the lineage, Robert Brian Thomas was identified as a match.
Thomas was found in Niles, MI and arrested on Dec. 12th for charges relating to armed sexual battery.
Thomas is now lodged in the Berrien County Jail and while he awaits extradition to Florida.
