In detroit's police warehouse, officials stumbled on 11,300 untested sexual-assault kits (or "rape kits") in 2009. Each contained DNA and other evidence collected from a victim's body just after an alleged assau some dated back to the 1980s. "The victims never saw justice," says Kym Worthy, a local prosecutor. In June Michigan passed a law that sets new standards for prompt testing, and there are plans to have the backlog processed by May 2015. Tests of the first 1,600 kits have already matched the dna of hundreds of known criminals, including nearly 90 serial rapists, who have gone on to offend in 23 other states.
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