MEMPHIS, Tenn. — More than 60 percent of the city’s backlog of untested rape kits have now been tested, but authorities are running into a new problem even as they get results back from these kits.
They’ve been having trouble finding the victims in these some of these cases, and without a victim, their cases cannot go to court.
The above photo to the right shows the latest numbers from the city’s Sexual Assault Kit Task Force. Take a look, and you’ll see of the more than 12,000 untested rape kits WREG first uncovered in 2010, the city has now tested most of them.
61 percent have now been analyzed, with just 39 percent are still awaiting testing, but even with most of these kits tested, police are still running into roadblocks.
“As we’ve gone into taking all of those to the lab and then getting results back, we’ve found almost 50 victims that cannot be found,” said Deborah Clubb of Memphis Says No More.
That’s 49 victims to be exact.
Clubb is urging women with unresolved rape cases to call police if they believe they had an untested rape kit.
“People move, change names, change phone numbers. Even with Google and all the other searches, it’s still difficult to find people sometimes.”
The District Attorney’s Office and the city referred us to the chairwoman of the city’s Sexual Assault Kit Task Force, but she never returned our email.
Clubb says it’s crucial victims in these cases get in touch with police, otherwise, justice may never be served.
“As in most places in the United States, without the accuser in a case like this, it can’t go to court. There’s still the right of an accused person to face the accuser.”
