Rape Suspect’s Genetic Family Tree Leads to Arrest in 20-Year-Old Cold Case

Florida Man Arrested in NYC Cold Case Rapes - New DNA Technique Hailed

Law enforecement officials are hailing a new DNA technique that has led to an arrest in 2 cold case rapes from 20 years ago. -File Photo

By Dan Gesslein 

Bronx Voice 

December 14, 2023 

BRONX - A rape suspect’s genetic family tree allegedly tripped him up and led to an arrest in a pair of rapes dating back two decades in 2 different boroughs. A new cutting edge DNA technique was able to link a Florida man with 20 year old rapes in NYC, prosecutors said. 

At a press conference police as well as Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and Bronx DA Darcel Clark hailed the new technique of Investigative Genetic Genealogy as leading to the arrest of the suspect in the cold case. The technique combines DNA analysis using crime scene samples and matching them with consumer genealogy databases looking for a match with “genetic relatives who consented to assist law enforcement.” 

The profile led investigators to Jancys Santiago, 48, in Florida. Prosecutors said officers recovered a sample of Santiago’s DNA from a discarded water bottle thrown out in Florida. Investigators said the DNA sample matched the DNA taken from the crime scenes 20 years earlier. 

Santiago was arraigned on November 15, 2023, on first-degree Rape before Bronx Supreme Court Justice Kim Parker. On December 12, 2023, bail was set at $1 million cash and $2.5 million bond.

“After all these years, we are finally providing justice for two women who survived terrifying attacks,” Clark said. “Our Bronx victim said she had been waiting more than 20 years to hear that her alleged rapist was caught. I thank the Manhattan DA’s Office and the NYPD, and my Forensic Science Unit for their relentless efforts for these women. Investigative Genetic Genealogy will help solve all sorts of cold cases, not limited to murders, and hold perpetrators accountable. It will also help to name our unidentified homicide victims so their relatives can have closure.” 

15-Year-Old Arrested for Robbing Teens at Knifepoint 

MANHATTAN - A second 15-year-old has been arrested for a series of robberies in which young victims were robbed at knifepoint, the NYPD said. 

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According to the indictment the first victim was attacked on May 23, 2000. A 27-year-old woman returned to her Midtown apartment to find a man had broken in. The woman said she was forced into the bathroom where her attacker tied her arms and feet with a wire hanger. He then raped her. 

Evidence from a rape kit taken of the victim created a DNA profile and Manhattan District Attorney’ Office indicted the profile as “John Doe” in 2005. 

The second case took place in December 2001 in the Bronx. A 21-year-old woman was sleeping when she awoke to find man in her room who covered her face. He bound her  with a wire hanger and raped her. 

Prosecutors said that victim’s rape kit matched the DNA profile of the Manhattan case.

“DNA is a powerful tool to solve cold cases and secure justice for survivors even decades after a crime takes place,” Bragg said. "Alongside our partners in law enforcement, we never give up on seeking accountability – particularly for such horrific and violent allegations as these. I thank the Bronx D.A.’s Office and the NYPD, as well as the prosecutors in my office, for pursuing answers with such determination while centering survivors throughout.”

Police Commissioner Edward Caban, “Investigations may grow colder with the passage of time, but these indictments prove that the best detectives in the world do not ever forget victims and the justice rightfully owed to them. I commend and thank for their skilled dedication to this critical work our NYPD forensic genetic genealogist, investigators, and criminologists, as well as New York City’s chief medical examiner and everyone involved in these cases from the Manhattan and Bronx district attorneys’ offices.”