Serial rape case has been open for 12 years. Thanks to DNA, an arrest has been made.

Police arrested a man believed to be the “Ramsey Street Rapist” and charged him in connection with six cases in Fayetteville between 2006 and 2008.

Darold Wayne Bowden, 43, of Palestine Road in Linden was identified as the suspect during a press conference Wednesday afternoon.

“We are committed to getting justice for each and every one of the victims in these cases and to holding this defendant accountable for his actions that really startled and rattled our community years ago,” Cumberland County District Attorney Billy West said in the press conference. “This individual has been in our community, walking around our streets for the last 10 years, probably smirking, thinking he got away with this. Well, he didn’t.”

A Virginia-based company ran genetic genealogy testing on DNA samples from the Ramsey Street Rapist investigation, and “they did their magic with it,” Fayetteville Lt. John Somerindyke said during the press conference. The same testing led to the April arrest of East Area Rapist/Golden State Killer suspect Joseph James DeAngelo, according to The Sacramento Bee.

“They were able to triangulate and figure out a strong person of interest for us,” Somerindyke said. “We were able to obtain his DNA, get it off to the state crime lab, and we got a match yesterday. We got the guy.”

Bowden is In jail under $18.8 million bond, with a first appearance set for Thursday at 2:30 p.m.

The six cases he is charged in took place at the following times and locations:

▪ March 31, 2006 — Village at Carvers Falls Apartments

▪ Aug. 23, 2006 — 4400 block of Ramsey Street

▪ Feb. 12, 2007 — Apartments on Bubble Creek Court

▪ March 6, 2007 — Village at Carvers Falls Apartments

▪ Sept. 18, 2007 — Heather Ridge Apartments

▪ Jan. 26, 2008 — Apartments on Bubble Creek Court

“For three years, I’ve poured my heart and soul into these and a lot of our other cases,” Somerindyke said, becoming emotional during the press conference. “All these cases are important to us. Our victims, more importantly, are important to us, and we’re going to do whatever it takes to get them justice.”

This story was originally published August 22, 2018 at 12:44 PM with the headline "Serial rape case has been open for 12 years. Thanks to DNA, an arrest has been made.."