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Prosecutor says DNA evidence has helped solve 2002 rape case

By AP/KWMU

St. Louis – More than four years after a jogger was abducted and raped in suburban Chesterfield, DNA evidence has lead to charges.

Leland Lachance has been charged with forcible rape, forcible sodomy, kidnapping, assault in the second degree and four counts of armed criminal action.

The rape occurred in August 2002. Police say the female jogger was grabbed by the assailant, then taken to a remote area, where she was raped and sodomized at knifepoint.

Prosecutor Bob McCulloch says evidence was entered into a national database. The system identified semen from the crime scene as consistent with that of Lachance.

Authorities obtained a new DNA sample that they say confirms DNA on the victim's clothing is consistent with Lachance's.

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