DNA evidence, detective's determination lead to arrest in 2014 rape case
MESQUITE, Texas - Mesquite police are crediting DNA evidence and the determination of its lead investigator with the recent arrest of a man they say beat and raped a disabled woman in 2014.
This is the first time this type of genealogy testing has led to an arrest for the Mesquite Police Department, and it hopes it might lead to charges in other unsolved cases.
For nearly 10 years, Mesquite police detective Brandon Snyder was chasing a case he desperately wanted to solve.
"I felt like we were just running on a treadmill. Like, we were making moves, we were staying active, and we weren’t making any progress," said Snyder.
In 2014, a disabled woman was raped and beaten.
"This lady was doing absolutely nothing wrong," he said. "She didn’t know this guy. She’s out for an evening walk and was attacked."
A rape kit led to investigators collecting DNA evidence, but they had no idea whose DNA it was.
Still, they kept working.
"We were going to get that lead," said Snyder.
In 2022, Detective Snyder learned about IGG, Investigative Genetic Genealogy, and the public DNA database website GEDMatch.com.
It's the type of data which has recently led to arrests in the 1986 murder of Barbara Villareal in Garland and the 2001 death of a newborn baby girl in Johnson County.
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"You can upload your kit to GEDmatch, if you would like. If you want to cooperate with law enforcement, if you just want to help — if you find yourself as a true crime aficionado, and you think that might help," said Snyder.
The DNA from the rape kit was submitted.
"We found a distant relative to our suspect about two years ago, shortly before carrying this case over to the FBI," Snyder said.
Jorge Post
In April, investigators identified Jorge Post as someone in the gene category, who at the time of the rape, lived a block away from the crime scene.
"Once we finally found a family member that lived here in the immediate area, of course, then your focus starts to shift," Snyder said.
Undercover investigators say they collected DNA from a Coke can Post drank from and that DNA matched the DNA from the rape kit.
Last week, nearly a decade later, Post was arrested at a home he was living at in Dallas.
"We found the person responsible," Snyder said.
Post is in the Dallas County Jail on a $5 million bond.
Detective Snyder says it's the highest bond he's ever seen in Dallas County.
This is the first time this type of genealogy testing has led to an arrest for the Mesquite Police Department and it hopes it might lead to charges in other unsolved cases.