Owensboro Rape Cold Case Solved Three Decades Later

OWENSBORO, Ky. (WEHT) — A suspect in a Tri-State rape case from 1994 has finally been sentenced. Authorities say DNA technology allowed them to finally catch the suspect decades after the crime.

In December 1994, A 19-year-old woman was walking to her vehicle in downtown Owensboro when she was approached with a knife. Officials say a man forced the young woman to drive across the blue bridge and into Spencer County, Indiana. She was raped before being dropped back off in Owensboro with no idea who was responsible.

The woman reached out to the Owensboro Police Department in 2022 to see if there were an updates that could be made to the investigation; Indiana State Police were able to find a DNA match in 2023.

“When our victim reached out to us, we began the process of trying to get the DNA figured out, see if we could get a match…run it actually through CODIS as it didn’t exist when the case originally occurred,” says Sergeant Cody Cliff of OPD.

The Combined DNA Index System saves profiles from convicted offenders, unsolved crime scenes and missing persons across the country.

The Owensboro Police Department’s request of ISP to introduce that DNA to the technology led them to Robert D. Shelton in North Carolina.

“I do know there was a case in 1996 where he was charged with several sexual offenses. I do not know the details of those cases. With Officer Josh Greer of Indiana State Police, we went down to North Carolina. We were able to make contact with the suspect,” says Sgt. Cliff.

On April 23 of this year, Shelton was sentenced in Spencer County to 30 years in prison.

Shelton faces additional charges in Kentucky of kidnapping and sexual abuse to the 1st degree. He’ll go before the Commonwealth Attorney before serving out his sentence.

“Once everything has come to kind of the conclusion in Indiana, he’ll be brought over here. They will give him the opportunity to admit guilt or innocence,” says Sgt. Cliff.

Cliff says he’s grateful for his team’s hard work and the victim’s resilience.

“It is all because of her… I can tell you that that voicemail means the world to me. I know that Lieutenant Green [of the Criminal Investigations Division] and her have had a lot of conversations about this case. I just can’t say enough about how much I appreciate her fight to come to this point that we’re at and get the justice that she rightly deserves,” says Cliff.

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