Maine Man Faces Charges for Cold Case Rape in Massachusetts

DNA led Massachusetts authorities to charge a Maine man in connection with a sexual assault case from nearly 24 years ago.

A Maine Man Was Arrested in Massachusetts

Jamie Dodge, 48, of Brownville, Maine is charged with aggravated rape and kidnapping. He was arrested on Tuesday in Ware, Massachusetts.

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The Sexual Assault Allegedly Took Place in 2000

The charges stem from a case in Holland, Massachusetts that investigators say happened on July 23, 2000. Western Mass News reports the adult female victim in this case told police that she had been walking along Sand Hill Road in Holland when she was grabbed from behind and dragged into some nearby woods, where she was allegedly sexually assaulted. She told authorities that her attacker was a white man who was not known to her.  Despite interviews and the best efforts of investigators, no suspects were identified, at the time.

DNA and Genetic Testing Led Police to Dodge

Nearly eight months later, forensic testing of evidence revealed DNA of an unknown male, which was loaded into a national database and referenced against offender profiles over the years. A match was never made and the case went cold. Fast forward to 2024 and the District Attorney's Office reopened the case, contracting Parabon Nanolabs in Virginia to do forensic investigative genetic genealogy and phenotyping of the DNA sample. Using information from that study on physical characteristics and possible leads from Parabon's analysis, the D.A. was able to locate and charge Dodge. He was arrested in Ware, Massachusetts on Tuesday.

We'll update this story as more details become available.