A suspect has been charged with multiple felonies in connection with a 1986 attack, Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker announced.
Cleophus Parker, 61, faces two counts of rape, one count of forcible sodomy and one count of first-degree robbery.
According court records released Thursday, the victim was walking to her car in July 1986 when two suspects approached her and forced her into the back of her vehicle. The victim said she was restrained in the back seat. Court records state the victim said the suspects drove to a nearby area, made her lay in the grass, tied her hands and raped her. The suspects then walked the victim back to her vehicle and drove to another location. When they arrived, both suspects fled and the victim was able to free herself.
The news release from the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office says DNA recovered from the victim was linked to the defendant in 2012.
Three years later, Parker was contacted at the Jefferson City Correctional Center. He remains in custody in a Missouri prison.
The news release also states this is the final case funded under federal Cold Case grants that have helped Jackson County prosecutors use DNA samples taken as evidence to connect them to the attacker. It has resulted in 53 filed cold cases and one defendant being exonerated.
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