19-year-old was kidnapped and raped 28 years ago, cops say. Suspect was just arrested

Nearly three decades after a 19-year-old woman was kidnapped and sexually assaulted, authorities said they have made an arrest.

The woman was kidnapped from the area of Brescia University — a private, Catholic college in Owensboro, Kentucky — in December 1994, according to a news release from the Owensboro Police Department.

She was assaulted while in Owensboro, police said, then she was taken to Indiana where she was assaulted again.

The case went cold until recently, when the department’s criminal investigations division reviewed the case.

Police said the division reached out to the Indiana State Police Laboratory, which still had DNA evidence on file. Authorities in Kentucky asked Indiana State Police to retest the DNA with newer technology.

This time, authorities said they found a DNA match to a 59-year-old man living in Hickory, North Carolina, about 60 miles northwest of Charlotte.

On Friday, March 24, officers with the Hickory Police Department arrested Robert Shelton on a warrant from police in Owensboro, according to the release.

Shelton faces charges of kidnapping and sexual abuse in the first degree in Kentucky, police said, and a rape charge from Indiana State Police.

Authorities did not provide any additional details about the case.

Owensboro is about 180 miles southwest of Lexington.

This story was originally published March 28, 2023 at 2:28 PM with the headline "19-year-old was kidnapped and raped 28 years ago, cops say. Suspect was just arrested."