DNA match solves decades-old Fayetteville rape case
After nearly 30 years, Fayetteville police have solved a rape case thanks to DNA testing, officials said Monday at a news conference.
The sexual assault happened Sept. 25, 1992.
Investigators got a break in the case in September when Roy Junior Proctor, 46, of the 100 block of Kinsington Circle, submitted a DNA sample when he was charged with another crime, according to Sgt. Jeremy Glass with the Fayetteville Police Department.
Proctor was arrested at 8 a.m. Monday while at work at Smithfield Packaging in Tar Heel. He is charged with first-degree rape, first-degree sexual offense, attempted first-degree murder, first-degree kidnapping and larceny of a motor vehicle.
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Police Lt. Michael Petti said the assault took place in a wooded area of Harnett County.
The victim told police she was cleaning the offices at Lafayette Memorial Park on Ramsey Street when she was knocked unconscious and driven to Harnett County, according to a news release. She was beaten and sexually assaulted and left for dead, Police Chief Gina Hawkins said during Monday's news conference.
Her vehicle was later found at Lafayette Memorial Park with “3 Horsemen” spray-painted across the hood, the news release said.
After receiving a grant from the Bureau of Justice Assistance’s National Sexual Assault Kit Initiative, the Fayetteville Police Department created a Cold Case Sexual Assault Unit, the release said.
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Petti was informed about the DNA match by the State Crime Lab, and the case was reopened in 2015.
Deanna Gerdes, executive director of the Rape Crisis Center of Cumberland County, said this was the one case she thought would never get solved.
“This morning, I had the privilege of notifying the victim and alerting her that an arrest had been made,” Gerdes said.
Gerdes said while driving to the victim's home, she was nervous.
“When I pulled in the driveway, the victim knew why I was there,” she said.
The victim asked if she could call her family so that they could hear that an arrest had been made.
According to Gerdes, the victim said, “This is the beginning of the last chapter of this story for me.”
Hawkins said the investigation is ongoing. Police are looking for two other suspects in connection with the case.
North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein, who attended the news conference, said when the state legislature reconvenes, he intends to propose legislation that DNA be collected from anyone arrested for assault on a female. Stein said had that been done, this case could have been solved sooner.
Proctor was held at the Cumberland County Detention Center with bail set at $1.10 million.
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Staff writer Melody Brown-Peyton can be reached at mbrownpeyton@fayobserver.com or 910-486-3568.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Fayetteville police make arrest in 1992 case after DNA match identifies suspect
