Sheriff: DNA evidence links kidnapping suspect to prior rape cases
Jul. 22—DNA evidence links the suspect in the July 4th kidnapping of a Choccolocco woman to two unsolved rape cases dating back to 2012, officials announced in a Friday morning press conference.
Calhoun County Sheriff's Office, in conjunction with the District Attorney's office, announced that Tony Lamar White, 47, of Anniston, has been connected through DNA evidence after the Alabama Department of Forensic Science processed White's DNA and ran it through the national DNA database known as CODIS.
White has been charged with kidnapping, first degree rape, sodomy and burglary in the Choccolocco case. He is currently being held in Calhoun County Jail on a $4 million bond.
The older cases are comparable to the kidnapping earlier this month, Sheriff Matthew Wade said. They occurred in 2012 and 2013 and both involved a man who followed an elderly woman home from a local store, kidnapped and sexually assaulted them.
In both cases, law enforcement was able to obtain DNA evidence from the victims and it was concluded that those two crimes were committed by the same person. Earlier in the investigation of the Choccolocco woman's case, investigators said they hoped to compare those DNA samples to White's to determine if he should be a suspect in the 2012 and 2013 cases, according to the sheriff.
Wade said both of those cases went cold with over nine years where investigators had no new leads; only a victim composite sketch. No charges have been filed against anyone in those cases.
