SEMINOLE, FLA. — Detectives assigned to the Cold Case Unit have arrested Russell Lee Rogers, an armed sexual battery suspect from a 1987 cold case. Detectives were able to identify the suspect after new AFIS System technology identified the suspect’s fingerprints and DNA technology confirmed him as the suspect.
The crime occurred at approximately 10:00 pm on Monday, February 16, 1987.
The suspect was arrested at approximately 1:25 pm, on Friday, June 15, 2018, in Lawrence County, Mississippi.
The incident occurred at a laundromat, which was located at 5731 Seminole Boulevard, Seminole, and also in an unknown wooded area in Pinellas County near a major roadway.
According to detectives, at approximately 10:00 pm on February 16, 1987, the female victim, who was 22-years-of-age at the time, drove to the laundromat which was located at 5731 Seminole Boulevard, Seminole. As the victim began to remove clothes from the washing machine, an unknown male confronted the victim from behind, produced a knife and held it to her side.
The male suspect then forced the victim to enter the passenger side of her vehicle, as he entered the driver’s side. The suspect proceeded to drive northbound on Seminole Boulevard, until he pulled off the roadway into a wooded area.
Once in the wooded area, the suspect ordered the victim out of her vehicle. The suspect forced the victim to perform sexual acts on him at knifepoint. He then forced the victim to undress and sexually battered her.
After the sexual battery, the suspect drove the victim back to the laundromat, where he ordered her into the bathroom. The suspect directed her to stay in the bathroom for ten minutes, then stated she could leave the laundromat. The suspect fled the business while the victim was in the bathroom.
Once the victim left the laundromat, she called law enforcement to report the incident.
During the investigation, evidence was collected, processed and submitted for analysis.
Latent fingerprints were recovered from a public telephone near the laundromat. The recovered prints were submitted through the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) on multiple occasions throughout the years, but no identifications were made. The case remained inactive during this time.
In April 2016, the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office upgraded their current AFIS system with new Morphotrak biometric software. The new software provided improvements in both fingerprint matching algorithms and system architecture, significantly improving the accuracy and efficiency of the current AFIS system.
In January 2018, during a case review, Cold Case Detectives requested latent print examiners utilize the new AFIS biometric software to processes the same latent fingerprint evidence that was collected in 1987. The new technology identified one viable candidate. Latent print examiners were able to identify the fingerprints from the public telephone to those of, 59-year-old Russell Lee Rogers of Oak Vale, Mississippi, who was 27-years-old at the time of the incident.
Through cooperation with the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, a search warrant was obtained to collect the DNA of Rogers. The DNA was collected and sent to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Tampa Bay Regional Operations Center for analysis. The DNA evidence confirmed Rogers to be the suspect in this case.
An arrest warrant was obtained, and on June 15, 2018, Rogers was taken into custody by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation. Rogers was transported to the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office in Monticello, Mississippi, to be interviewed by Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office detectives.
According to detectives, Rogers advised that he could not recall the specific incident, but did not deny the allegations. Rogers understood that his DNA evidence was found, which confirmed him as the suspect.
Rogers was charged with two counts Armed Sexual Battery and one count Armed Kidnapping. Rogers was booked into the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office Jail, where he will await extradition to the Pinellas County Jail.
The investigation continues.
