CHARLOTTE — The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said it has identified the man known as the “Myers Park Rapist.”
At a press conference Monday afternoon, police announced they had identified David Edward Doran as the man responsible for sexually assaulting 15 girls between 1990 and 1999.
Doran died in 2008.
Sgt. Darrell Price said the victims were between the ages of 3 and 18. Police said that in most cases, Doran had a knife, broke into the victim’s home and moved the victim to a different location where he would sexually assault them.
Price said Doran wore a ski mask and gloves during the attacks, so his victims had conflicting descriptions of what he looked like.
Officials said Doran started targeting victims in the Charlotte area at the age of 49 and could have been responsible for other assaults in different states.
“It wouldn’t surprise me if he was responsible for 50 or more assaults across the country,” Price said. “He started in Charlotte at 49 years old and people do not become rapists at 49 years old.”
Police have been in contact with agencies in the other states where Doran lived and could have been responsible for other sexual assaults.
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CMPD said detectives were able to solve this case with assistance from the Sexual Assault Initiative Grant (SAKI) and Parabon Laboratories.
Forensic genetic genealogy was used to identify Doran as a potential suspect. Additional DNA testing was then used to confirm that he was indeed the “Myers Park Rapist.”
Police said Doran spent some time in jail in Charlotte for burglary in the early 2000s and was not considered a suspect in connection with this case.
Doran died in 2008 at the age of 67.
He was never charged in the attacks, however, the Districts Attorney’s Office said if he were alive today they would have enough evidence to prosecute.
Investigators discuss working tirelessly to solve cold case
Retired Det. Cheryl Horner spent her career trying to bring Doron to justice.
“I can tell you that everywhere we would go, women were terrified, the men were terrified,” Horner told Channel 9.
Horner said that she will never forget the fear that gripped this quiet community for almost a decade.
“It was just a sense of terror in Charlotte at this time,” Horner said.
Horner and her partner collected evidence and interviewed countless victims and witnesses, enough to fill two boxes with files.
She retired 24 years ago but never left the victims behind.
“We felt very strongly that one day, science would catch up with these cases and that they would be solved,” she said.
She said justice was served even though Doran had died.
“I would like to have seen him go to trial, but justice was served in this case,” she said. “He’s no longer a threat to anybody.”
Sgt. Darrell Price leads the Cold Case Unit that used the latest DNA technology to finally identify Doran.
His unit contacted each victim to let them know they had found the man who attacked them.
“They’re excited. They all wanted to know more,” Price said.
(Watch the video below: Rape survivor discusses latest cold case arrest)
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