40 rape kits from Cape Girardeau area sent for testing

Untested rape kits from the Cape Girardeau Police Department are on their way for testing, according to a news release from Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt.

A total of 40 kits were gathered Thursday and shipped from Cape Girardeau’s department and neighboring departments.

“We were honored to have had the opportunity to offer our department and its resources as the logistical host agency to further promote the completion of this mission. It is extremely important to us, at the Cape Girardeau Police Department, that we exhaust all avenues of approach to determine the identities of the responsible perpetrators so that justice may prevail for victim(s) of sexual violence,” Cape Girardeau police Cpl. Orrin Hawkins said in the release.

“Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the Attorney General’s Office is still working diligently to ensure that untested sexual assault kits are continually sent to the lab to be tested, and I appreciate our law enforcement partners and the Cape Girardeau Police Department for their help on this important initiative,” Schmitt said in the release.

Shipping events have also been held in other Missouri police departments including Lee’s Summit, Grandview, Springfield, Columbia, St. Joseph, Blue Springs and Joplin, and at the Camden and Cass county sheriff’s offices, the release stated.

The kits will be processed at a lab in Virginia through the SAFE Kits Initiative. Schmitt launched the initiative in January 2019, and it is funded by a grant from the Bureau of Justice Assistance. The kits will be tested and results reviewed for potential prosecution, according to previous reporting by the Southeast Missourian.