HIGBEE’S BEACH — Lower Township Police Detective Ed Dougherty and County Prosecutors Office Detective Edward Musick, flew to Nevada last week to extradite a suspect wanted for a cold case sexual assault that occurred in Lower Township on July 3, 2000.
Dylan Thomas Ravel, 33, formerly of this county, was serving time for robbery and kidnapping in a Nevada State Prison.
The cold case was re-opened due to DNA samples recovered eight years ago.
Police Chief Edward Donohue stated that after additional investigation by Detective Joseph Boyle and the Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office, Ravel was charged with the July 2000 Sexual Assault of a female which occurred at the Higbee’s Beach Wildlife Management Area.
Police are also looking into a second rape at Higbee’s Beach Parking Lot in a remote area off New England Road, which occurred in October 2000, according to a release. Ravel was arrested by Lower Township Police Department and charged with the second rape, but was released when the victim would not testify against him.
After the July 2000 assault, a forensic kit was collected and sent to State Police Laboratory. New Jersey has its own database with 180,000 DNA samples of convicted offenders. This DNA evidence was also sent to a National Data Base called the Combined DNA System, or CODIS.
Then in 2004, Ravel, 29 at the time, and his wife, Marie Ravel, 30, were arrested in Nevada. They pleaded guilty to charges in connection with the robbery of an elderly man.
While serving time in the Nevada State Prison, a sample of Ravel’s DNA was taken and logged into the DNA Data System. Boyle was notified in 2006 of the possible DNA match. He has been working the case ever since and filed the Sexual Assault charges against Ravel on August 27, 2008.
Ravel was charged with second-degree sexual assault and on March 6 was delivered to the Cape May County Correctional Facility at approximately 2 a.m. by Detectives Dougherty and Musick.
Chief Donohue noted that DNA has been utilized by the Lower Township Police Department previously to make arrests in burglary cases. He credited the establishment of state and national DNA data bases as an extremely effective tool for law enforcement in cold case investigations.
A Google search of Ravel’s name yielded a social networking site for prisoners. While incarcerated in Nevada, Ravel had a profile page on www.FriendsBeyondTheWall.com. In his profile, Ravel said he is open-minded. He admits making some mistakes in the past, but is ready to look for friendship and maybe more when the time is right.
To view Ravel’s profile visit www.friendsbeyondthewall.com/ppbtw/ads-male/r/ravel_dylan_83744.html
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