DNA identifies suspect in Acton, Massachusetts, 2013 cold case rape, Middlesex DA says

ACTON, Mass. — 

DNA evidence has identified a suspect in a Massachusetts rape case that went cold for nearly a decade, the Middlesex District Attorney said. 

Twenty-eight-year-old Christopher Aldrich from Lunenburg was arraigned Tuesday afternoon in Concord District Court on charges of aggravated rape. 

According to Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan, Aldrich pulled a knife on a woman waiting for a train at the South Acton Commuter Rail Station around 9 p.m. in June of 2013. He forced her to throw away her cell phone and raped her, the DA says. 

After the attack, the woman was able to crawl to her phone and call 911. Although police arrived on the scene quickly, Ryan said, they could not find her attacker. 

The woman went to the hospital, where evidence was collected in a rape kit, including DNA. Investigators were unable to find a match, and the case went cold until recently. 

Video below: DA speaks about how DNA was used to identify suspect 

Ryan told 5 Investigates' Karen Anderson that the case was solved using genetic genealogy. 

In 2021, investigators sent the DNA to a private lab, which developed a pool of potential persons of interest, and Christopher Aldrich was included in that pool. In November 2022, Aldrich was in a car crash, and investigators obtained his DNA, and testing revealed it was a match. 

"That match is one in three sextillion," Ryan said. 

Ryan said the county's efforts to solve cold cases extend beyond murders. 

"We want to send a clear message for people who have been victimized in a sexual assault and perpetrated them here in Middlesex County. We just don't give up on those cases," Ryan said. 

Aldrich was ordered held on $100,000 bail. 

Ryan added they are continuing to investigate if he is linked to any unsolved cases, and encourages anyone who has been victimized in a sexual assault case that has not been solved should reach out to the DA's office.