Who: 
Pinellas County Sheriff's Office 
Support Services Bureau
-AFIS Division
-Forensic Science Division
Investigative Operations Bureau 
- Cold Case Homicide Unit  

Venice Police Department

Niles Police Department, Michigan

Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE)
- Genetic Genealogy Team

Florida State Attorney’s Office – Sixth and Twelfth Judicial Circuit

Robert Brian Thomas (Arrested) 
DOB: 04/16/1958 
Address: 216 North 11^th Street, Niles, Michigan
Charges: One count Armed Sexual Battery (PCSO)

The victim is currently a 41-year-old female, Per FL Statute 119.071(2)(h)1.b no other information will be released that would tend to identify the victim. 

What: 
Detectives assigned to the Cold Case Unit have arrested a sexual battery suspect from a 1998 cold case. Detectives were able to identify the suspect after Genealogy DNA confirmed him as the suspect.

When: 
The crime occurred at approximately 8:30 p.m. on October 8, 1998. 

The suspect was arrested at approximately 11:00 a.m., on Thursday, December 12, 2019, in Niles, Michigan.

Where: 
The incident occurred at the 12^th Avenue Beach Access in Indian Rocks Beach.

Why/How: 
According to detectives, at approximately 8:30 p.m. on October 8, 1998, deputies responded to a sexual battery call in Indian Rocks Beach. The female victim, who was 20-years-old at the time, was walking alone on the beach at the 12^th Avenue Beach Access, when she was approached by an unknown, nude, male suspect. The victim attempted to flee, but was caught and overpowered by the suspect, who then threatened her with a weapon.

The male suspect sexually battered the female victim and forced her to perform oral sex on him. The suspect then ordered the victim into the Gulf of Mexico to clean herself before he fled the area.

Detective’s collected DNA evidence from the victim after the Sexual Assault Victim Examination (SAVE) was completed. This DNA was provided to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) where a profile of the suspect was created and uploaded into national and state databases, but no matches were found at the time.

In May 1999, FDLE matched the DNA submitted from the sexual battery in Pinellas County with a sexual battery in Venice, Florida, which also occurred in 1998.

For over twenty years, detectives from the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office and the Venice Police Department worked to identify the suspect. Over ninety people of interest were identified and eliminated as suspects during that timespan.

In July 2017, the case was assigned to the Cold Case Homicide Unit and together with the Venice Police Department and other agencies, detectives began reviewing the evidence. Although detectives utilized extensive investigative techniques, they were unable to match the DNA from either case with a suspect.

In October 2018, FDLE announced a new initiative for a genetic genealogy program and in December 2018, accepted the cold case for genealogy mapping. This testing allows detectives to work backward from the identified family member, toward the unknown suspect.

In March 2019, detectives received a match of a distant relative and continued to diligently interview members in the family tree for information. The FDLE Genetic Genealogy Team was able to narrow the search to one genetic line in the family, which included five possible suspects.

In early December 2019, detectives were able to obtain a DNA sample from 61-year-old Robert Brian Thomas, who was living in Niles, Michigan.

On December 10, 2019, FDLE DNA analysis confirmed that Thomas’ DNA was a match to the DNA obtain from the 1998 sexual battery cases in both Pinellas County and Venice.

Arrest warrants were obtained from the State Attorney’s Offices in the Sixth and Twelfth Judicial Circuit, and on December 12, 2019, Thomas was taken into custody by the Niles Police Department and was interviewed by Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office and Venice Police Department detectives.

During the interview with detectives, Thomas stated that he either lived or visited the areas during the timeframe of the allegations, but did not admit to any crime involvement. Thomas understood that his DNA evidence was found, at which time he requested an attorney and the interview was concluded.     

Thomas was charged with two counts Sexual Battery, one count from Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office and one count from Venice Police Department. Thomas was booked into the St. Joseph County Jail, where he will await extradition to Pinellas County.

Sheriff Gualtieri held a press conference on December 16, 2019, in which he stated, “This case demonstrates how evolving science, technology, collaboration between law enforcement agencies, and good old fashioned ‘boots-on-the-ground’ police work, come together.”  

FDLE Commissioner Rick Swearingen said, “FDLE is a national leader using the power of genetic genealogy to solve cases. Thomas is the fifth cold case suspect to be identified using Genetic Genealogy in Florida since last October and several additional cases are moving forward. I could not be prouder of our Genetic Genealogy team and this program.”

To see the press conference in its entirety: https://youtu.be/ZPPeybsKg4s

The investigation continues.

St. Joseph County Jail, Michigan