DNA from 1999 used by Guelph police to ID suspect in decades-old sex assault cases

Police in Guelph, Ont., say they have identified a suspect in two sexual assaults that took place more than 20 years ago.

Investigators say the incidents occurred months apart in 1999.

In the first incident, which took place in July, police say a 74-year-old woman was sexually assaulted at her home.

Then, in November, they say the same suspect went into another home while armed with a knife and confronted a 45-year-old woman in her bedroom.

Police say the woman was able to fight him off and he fled. 

Trail went cold

Guelph Police said Thursday in a release that in 1999 an eleven-officer task force conducted an "extensive investigation."

"The offender was not identified and the case, although never closed, became cold."

The case was revisited in 2010, police said, and advancements in DNA technology over the past decade eventually led to identification of the suspect. 

Police say the suspect, who is now deceased, was a man in his 20s at the time of the assaults. His name is not being released.