Law enforcement agencies across Arizona are sifting through evidence lockers looking for every last untested sexual assault kit under new efforts driven largely by Gov. Doug Ducey.
It's part of a push across the country to cut the backlog of untested DNA evidence in sexual assault cases.
The kits weren't tested for a variety of reasons, such as cases where authorities deemed testing unnecessary because the victim knew the assailant and there was no question about the suspect's identity.
But the samples are now considered a valuable tool in identifying serial offenders.
Ducey called for changes in his state of the state address earlier this year. Since then, he has signed an executive order forming a task force to come up with ways address the untested kits.
