Man charged in 16-year-old rape

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- DNA evidence in a 16-year-old rape case has led to charges against a prison inmate.

Prosecutors said DNA evidence from the March 23, 1986, rape matched that of Melvin L. Conley, 44. He is serving 30 years on a 1987 sodomy conviction from Jackson County.

He was charged Friday with rape, first-degree assault and first-degree robbery. Court records allege that Conley and another man rapped a 26-year-old woman at gunpoint and stole her money.

Prosecutors said the case is the oldest one in Jackson County in which charges were filed because of DNA evidence. And Missouri State Highway Patrol officials said they believe the case is the oldest of its kind in the state.

But DNA evidence could soon help solve older case as samples from crime scenes are matched to a state database of felons or to a national FBI database.