DNA technology led Volusia County Sheriff's Office detectives to make an arrest in the rape of a 14-year-old girl that happened 20 years ago.

  • DNA leads to arrest in 20-year-old rape case in Volusia
  • Robert Haar, 42, currently in jail in Endeavor, Wisconsin
  • Incident happened in 1997 in area known as Mud Lake

The victim, who is now an adult, still lives in Volusia County. When approached about the new evidence, she told detectives she wanted to proceed.

"She was very emotional," Lt. Pat Thoman said. "She did recall the incident very well, although it had been 20 years. She ... (is) definitely willing to pursue the case."

Twenty years ago, the 14-year-old was hanging out with a group of friends in an area known as Mud Lake near Clyde Morris Boulevard and LPGA Boulevard. According to a report, an argument ensued and the teenager was left in the area by herself.

Detectives said that's when three males ordered the teen into a van and threatened to kill her if she screamed.

The teen was repeatedly raped, detectives said. She was then dropped off in Port Orange, where she walked to her grandmother's home and reported what happened.

Detectives used a rape kit then for evidence, but the kit remained mostly untouched for almost 20 years. It wasn’t sent to a lab.

"It was an oversight," Thoman said.

A nationwide initiative to revisit cold cases led to the kit finally being sent for DNA testing.

Detectives found a match: 42-year-old Robert Sheridan Haar, who was sitting in a jail cell in Endeavor, Wisconsin.

DNA evidence and interviews with Haar led to charges of sexual battery. He is currently awaiting extradition to Volusia County.

When asked about the oversight and why the rape kit wasn't immediately sent to a lab, Thoman said the agency wouldn't have come up with a match because Haar's DNA was not in the system until 2016.

Investigators think they have a DNA hit on a second suspect and are also trying to hunt down a third suspect.