HICKORY, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — A Hickory man is facing charges in connection to the 1994 kidnapping and sexual assault of a 19-year-old woman near a university in Kentucky, according to police.

The Owensboro Police Department said in December of 1994, the woman was kidnapped near Brescia University, assaulted in Owensboro, and then taken to Indiana where the assault continued.

Detectives recently conducting a review of the case reached out to the Indiana State Police Laboratory who advised they still had DNA evidence on file that was entered prior to the development of the Combined DNA Index System.

Police said the Indiana State Police was contacted and asked to reopen their case and to retest the DNA to identify a potential suspect.

On March 23, 2023, Owensboro detectives received a DNA match with 59-year-old Robert Shelton of Hickory, North Carolina.

Officers with the Brookford Police Department arrested Shelton on March 24 on the charges of kidnapping and first-degree sexual assault.

He also faces charges of rape from the Indiana State Police in connection to the case.