Print
More than two decades ago, a 19-year-old woman was raped in Escondido after being pulled into a van and kidnapped outside a motel.
Now, Escondido police say they have arrested a Riverside County man in the 1999 cold case, and that DNA identified him as a suspect.
Mark Thompson Hunter, 64, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to felony charges including kidnapping, rape and other sex crimes. He was arrested earlier this week at his home in Hemet and booked into county jail in Vista, Escondido police said Thursday in a news release.
Hunter was identified recently as the suspect after authorities got a DNA hit on evidence obtained at the time of the attack. The U.S. Marshal’s San Diego Fugitive Task Force arrested Hunter and searched his home July 13.
Friday afternoon, the San Diego County Sheriff's Department announced that it had made an arrest in a Jane Doe cold case from 2003. Detectives arrested Jack Potter for the murder of his wife Laurie Potter after a months-long investigation using Investigative Genetic Genealogy.