Coral Springs Police Detectives Solve 31-Year-Old Rape Case

by Sharon Aron Baron August 23, 2018

by Sharon Aron Baron August 23, 2018 2 minutes read

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Frank Montana

By: Sharon Aron Baron

A man has been arrested and a 31-year-old rape case has been solved thanks to Coral Springs Police Detectives along with the Broward Sheriff’s Office Crime Lab.

Back in 1987, a 27-year-old female was violently attacked and raped after an unknown suspect entered her Coral Springs residence in the middle of the night. The victim woke up to a male standing over her while she slept inside of her bedroom. The victim was held down by the attacker and fearing for her life she was forced to comply with his demands.

In her statement to police after the crime, the victim said the male was wearing a dark-colored ski masked and possibly “socks”, “gloves” or “mitts” on his hands. After the suspect fled the area, forensic evidence was collected from the scene and sent to the Broward County Sheriff’s Office Crime Lab for analysis. At the time of the incident evidence collected was unable to connect a suspect to the crime.

On March 2018, Detectives from the Special Victims Unit were assigned the cold case and began meticulously reviewing the case. After evaluating the evidence they coordinated with the Broward Sheriff’s Office Crime Lab to have the forensic evidence tested again. On May 29, 2018, thanks to advances in DNA technology, BSO Crime Lab advised there was a positive suspect DNA profile from the evidence submitted.

The suspect was identified as Frank Montana, 59, “aka Frank Cruz”. Based on the findings of the investigation, an arrest warrant was obtained for the defendant.

Frank Montana’s criminal history revealed a prior arrest for a sexual battery case in Minneapolis, Minnesota. According to Coral Springs Police, he was arrested in East Baton Rouge, Louisiana on Tuesday and will be extradited to Broward County once arrangements are finalized.

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Sharon Aron Baron

Editor of Talk Media and writer for Coral Springs Talk. CST was created in 2012 to provide News, Views, and Entertainment for the residents of Coral Springs and the rest of South Florida.