Cold Case Unit Charges Suspect in Sexual Assault Investigation

Published on May 09, 2023

Charlotte, N.C. – (Tuesday, May 9, 2023) – Detectives with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department’s Cold Case Unit have charged a suspect in a 28-year-old sexual assault cold case investigation.

On June 17, 1994, at 1:30 a.m., a 39-year-old victim reported to CMPD that an unknown subject had broken into her residence and sexually assaulted her at knifepoint.  A sexual assault kit was completed on the victim and analyzed. Additional testing of the evidence was conducted in 2018, and in 2019, the forensic samples from the scene were linked to another sex assault in Columbia, South Carolina that happened in 2010.

In 2022, with the assistance of funding from the National Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI), detectives utilized forensic genetic genealogy to identify a person of interest. A DNA sample was obtained from this subject, and it matched the DNA from both sexual assaults.

As a result of years of extensive forensic testing and evidence examination, the CMPD’s Crime Lab and Cold Case Unit identified the suspect as James Wayne Ingersoll (DOB 11/06/1972). On Thursday, May 4, 2023, members of CMPD’s Violent Criminal Apprehension Team (VCAT) located and apprehended Ingersoll in Concord, North Carolina. South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED), and the Columbia Police Department also assisted. The victims have been notified of the arrest.

The investigation into this case is active and ongoing. As additional information develops, it will be released by the CMPD’s Public Affairs Office. Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call 704-432-TIPS and speak directly to a detective. The public can also leave information anonymously by contacting Crime Stoppers at 704-334-1600 or http://charlottecrimestoppers.com/.  For additional information about this case, please refer to the report: 19940617-013400.

###