VINCENNES, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) — Vincennes authorities made an arrest in what they said was the city’s only unsolved violent crime.
Gustav Ryburn, 33, was picked up on a Knox County warrant Tuesday in Polk County, Florida, Vincennes Police Chief Robert Dunham said Wednesday during a press conference.
He is currently considered “a person of interest” in a 2008 home invasion and sexual assault.
On Nov. 21, 2008, a young woman was sexually assaulted and physically battered in her Vincennes apartment. According to Vincennes PD Detective Sgt. Stacy Reese, the victim received “significant physical injuries” as a result of the attack.
“It is was horrific, what this young lady went through,” Police Chief with the Vincennes Police Department, Dunham said.
Ryburn was not directly tied to the victim in any way; however, he was employed at a bar in the Vincennes area in 2008. Reese describes the incident as, “a true stranger situation.”
“About a month ago, we got some information that led us to focus our investigation efforts on Mr. Ryburn. From that point on we began doing research into his background, gathering as much information on him as we could. We reached out and were able to get enough information through our contacts that we were able to have a P.C., which is probable cause to make an arrest,” Reese said.
Earlier this year, Reese noted that a new DNA analysis through Parabon NanoLabs gave the department something to bring to the public.
“The public is always helpful anytime you do a major investigation,” Reese said. “Any lead is never too small.”
The analysis included two composite sketches of the person of interest. One sketch shows what the person would have looked like in his 20s while the other shows him in his 30s.
During Wednesday’s press conference Reese credited Parabon NanoLabs for helping to break the case.
“Without them, we would not have generated the things that led us to the person of interest that we’ve arrested,” Reese said.
Reese noted that the case remained active “this entire time.”
“We are grateful for all of the outside assistance,” she said. “And we are thankful that we could make an arrest and begin the long journey of justice for our victim.”
Ryburn is currently awaiting extradition. Chief Dunham says his focus continues to be gathering more evidence in hopes to find justice for the victim.
“Only people that were at the scene, seeing the victim, having knowledge of what the victim went through, and for it to go this long and finally come to a possibility of maybe getting some closure for this victim is indescribable,” Dunham said.
While the victim did not want to attend the press conference, she did provide Reese with a statement to read saying she “hopes justice will be served, and that this man never sees the outside of a prison cell again.”
“She wants you to know that she is a survivor,” Reese told the crowd. “And she will continue to survive and thrive in life and overcome all of the obstacles that this brought to her.”
