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CONNECT THE DOTS AND CLEAR THE BACKLOG. JOHN, YOU FIRST EXPOSED THIS MASSIVE PROBLEM SIX YEARS AGO. HOW MUCH PROGRESS HAVE THEY MADE NOW? WELL, GUY, WHEN WE FIRST STARTED DIGGING INTO THIS IN OCTOBER OF 2018, THERE WERE ABOUT 4000 UNTESTED RAPE KITS DATING BACK TO THE 1990S. SINCE THEN, NEARLY 70% HAVE BEEN SENT TO THE LAB, WHERE FOR THE FIRST TIME, WE GET TO SHOW YOU THE SCIENCE BEHIND THIS BACKLOG BUSTING MISSION. THIS CARTRIDGE OF DNA TEST TUBES COULD HOLD THE KEY TO IDENTIFYING A SERIAL RAPIST. IT’S GOING TO TAKE THOSE TUBES, ADD THE CHEMICALS, BREAKS, OPEN THE CELL, AND THEN PUTS IT IN A CLEAN, STERILE TUBE. DEPARTMENT OF FORENSIC SCIENCES DIRECTOR ANGELO DE LA MANA SAYS IN 2018, THIS HOOVER LAB WOULD TYPICALLY TEST ABOUT 250 RAPE KITS, A YEAR. THEN THEY WERE TASKED WITH HELPING ELIMINATE ABOUT 4000 UNTESTED JEFFERSON COUNTY KITS DATING BACK TO THE 1990S. SO THIS IS APPROXIMATELY 10 TO 15 YEARS WORTH OF SEXUAL ASSAULT KITS THAT WERE FOUND IN THE CITY OF BIRMINGHAM. SINCE THEN, INVESTIGATORS HAVE SENT THE LAB UP TO 50 BACKLOGGED KITS, A MONTH. BUT JUST EXACTLY HOW ARE THEY TURNING THEM INTO POTENTIAL JUSTICE FOR HUNDREDS OF FORGOTTEN SURVIVORS? IT STARTS WITH FINDING THE DNA IN EACH KIT. TAKE THIS SHIRT, FOR EXAMPLE. THEY USE A HIGH TECH LIGHT TO FIND BODILY FLUID STAINS INVISIBLE TO THE NAKED EYE. HERE’S A STAIN THAT’S BEEN MARKED 15. YOU CAN KIND OF TELL. TELL THAT CIRCULAR STAIN THERE THAT’S REALLY FLUORESCING UNDERNEATH THIS LIGHT. THEN THEY TAKE THOSE SAMPLES, PLACE THEM IN A TUBE AND RUN THEM THROUGH THIS MACHINE TO IDENTIFY A DNA PROFILE. FROM THERE, THOSE RESULTS ARE ENTERED INTO A NATIONAL DATABASE AGAINST 22 MILLION OTHERS LOOKING FOR A MATCH. SO FAR, THE JEFFERSON COUNTY BACKLOGGED KITS HAVE PRODUCED ABOUT 500 HITS. OF THOSE 500 OFFENDERS, 11% A LITTLE OVER 50 ARE SERIAL OFFENDERS. THAT PREVIOUSLY WERE UNKNOWN IN AND AROUND CENTRAL ALABAMA. MEN WHO VIOLATED MULTIPLE WOMEN LIKE QUINDARIUS CARTER, LUTHER EICHNER, AND JONATHAN LOCKHART. CARTER AND EICHNER BOTH PLEADED GUILTY IN 2022. THE NEXT YEAR, A JURY CONVICTED LOCKETT. HE RECEIVED 776 YEARS IN PRISON. HELPING BRING JUSTICE TO HUNDREDS AND HUNDREDS OF SURVIVORS THAT MAY HAVE FOUGHT THEIR CASE WAS FORGOTTEN. WHAT KIND OF SATISFACTION DOES THAT BRING YOU? IT’S. IT’S WHAT PUTS GAS IN OUR TANK, TO BE HONEST WITH YOU. WE CONTINUE TO JUST ADDRESS THE BACKLOG. ONE CASE AT A TIME. ONE VICTIM AT A TIME, UNTIL IT’S COMPLETED. DELIVERING DELAYED JUSTICE DECADES OVERDUE. NOW, BASED ON THE NUMBER OF KITS STILL WAITING TO BE EXAMINED AND THE LAB’S ABILITY TO TEST 50 A MONTH, THE BACKLOG SHOULD BE ELIMINATED IN THE NEXT TWO YEARS. IF YOU HAVE SOMETHING FOR US TO TAKE A CLOSER LOOK AT,