Mar. 31—When the Owensboro Police Department announced Tuesday that detectives had made an arrest in a rape case more than 28 years old, it was confirmation of the "miracle" that T.W. had been praying for.

"...As you can imagine, I think I fell out of my chair; I couldn't believe it," said T.W. about when she received the call from an OPD detective that a person had been charged with the crime.

According to an OPD report, Robert D. Shelton, 59, of Hickory, North Carolina, has been charged with kidnapping and first-degree sexual abuse in Kentucky, along with an additional charge of rape from the Indiana State Police.

For this story, T.W.'s name and true initials are being kept anonymous. The Messenger-Inquirer's policy is not to reveal the identities of sexual assault victims.

T.W., who's now 47 and no longer lives in Owensboro, was 19 in December 1994 when she left her boyfriend's parents' home at midnight.

On that night, T.W. said she had to park farther away than normal, but that she never felt unsafe walking in that area, which is near Brescia University.

"I had done it every night so many nights; the only thing that was different that night was ... a car that kind of pulled up beside me right before I turned left on to Allen Street," she said. "It was a man and he said, 'What is your name?' I just said, 'It's Susan.' I just made that name up."

From there, T.W. said she hurried her walk but made it inside of her car — a Mercury Lynx — and for a brief moment "never thought anymore about it."

But as she was trying to find her car keys, she could "sense somebody rushing to the car."

That's when a man opened the car door and climbed inside.

"...It was so quick it didn't even register that something awful was about to happen," T.W. said. "It wasn't until I saw that he was wearing a hoodie and that across his face he had put like a piece of fabric — I want to say it was almost like a hand towel."

According to T.W., she heard him say, "I need a ride and I have a knife — drive."

But even as she drove away, T.W. said she didn't understand how much danger she was in.

"...I had only been 19 for a couple months, and I was so naive," she said. "In my mind, I was thinking 'he only needs a ride — just get through this part.' "

But as she kept driving, T.W. said the man did touch her before telling her to go over the Blue Bridge and into Indiana, where the sexual assault would continue.

Once over the bridge, T.W. said the man had her drive into a secluded area.

"As soon as I turned down the road, the fear of death was so loud, it was like I could feel the breath in my body — like it was going to be my only and last breaths I had," she said. "I knew that place was so obscure, and I didn't have my family. They had just moved. I remember thinking, at that age, 'I want my mom,' because I had never been in this place before."

After the assault, the man warned her not to say anything because he had taken her ID.

"He said, 'I have your driver's license. If you go and I read this in the paper, I will find you.' "

According to T.W., the man drove them back into Owensboro while she remained undressed in the floorboard.

T.W said she still wasn't sure what was going to happen next as she had thoughts of "Where is he taking me now?" "Will he kill me now?"

But after stopping the car, T.W. said the man told her to wait 10 minutes before getting out.

"And then he shut the door," she said.

T.W. said she didn't wait that long before finding her clothes and started walking to find help.

She eventually returned to her boyfriend's home where the police were called and she was taken to the hospital.

After that night, T.W. has been reliving the rape since it happened.

But at the same time, she never gave up on finding the person who forever changed her life.

Although the bulk of the sexual assault occurred in Indiana, T.W. said it was still close to Owensboro, and that it made it difficult to remain here.

T.W. said she "loved" Owensboro because this is where she was raised.

"After that happened, I fought so hard to stay in Owensboro," she said. "But in my mind, I always felt like he could see me somewhere that I couldn't see him. It would haunt me so much I would be at the grocery story or at a drug store, and think he's watching me; he's checking out behind me. It would overwhelm me."

NOT GIVING UPIn 1997, T.W. moved away and rejoined her family, who had left three years prior.

But during the nearly three decades that followed, T.W. never gave up seeking justice.

"...So many nights I would lie awake and think 'I need a miracle. This person is out there; he's living his life, and he's lived the best part of his life; he's going to be a needle in a haystack to me at this point,' " she said.

Every couple of years, T.W. said she would call OPD to see if any detectives had any leads. However, more time would just go by without hearing from OPD.

"Every time I called it was a different person," she said.

In September 2022, T.W. said she made another "routine follow-up" call and caught the attention of Lt. Chris Green, commander of OPD's Criminal Investigations Division.

T.W. said Green told her he would check into the case and follow back up.

"I thought to myself that 'I've heard this for the past 20-something years; you're not going to call me back; nothing is going to come of it, but I'm not going to stop,' " she said. "But he called me back, and with each call that he made to me over the past six months, he would have some good news."

OPD and Indiana State Police detectives were able to start connecting dots that led to a suspect in North Carolina.

During Tuesday's press conference, Green said ISP had been keeping the evidence from the crime and that it was processed in a time before every state started using the FBI's combined DNA index system (CODIS).

Green added that CODIS is "a database where the FBI compiles DNA evidence from people who have been convicted of offenses; it is also DNA evidence that comes from unsolved crimes and/or missing persons."

And in T.W.'s case, her evidence had never been entered into CODIS.

ISP reopened the case and tested the evidence, which then returned with Shelton, who was living in Owensboro in 1994, as a "potential suspect."

That's when OPD Det. Cody Cliff was assigned the case.

Cliff said he and an ISP detective traveled to North Carolina in early March. They gathered more DNA evidence and conducted an interview with Shelton.

On March 20, the Brookford Police Department in North Carolina arrested Shelton on an OPD warrant.

He was then lodged in the Catawba County jail in North Carolina on a $250,000 bond as he awaits extradition.

When Green was asked if T.W. hadn't reached out would an arrest have been made, he said, "Potentially no. Her being adamant about her investigation and all of those things ultimately led to where we're at."

T.W. complimented OPD and ISP detectives for staying with the case and keeping her informed every step of the way.

"...They were so willing and so happy (to make the arrest)," she said.

T.W. said her purpose for sharing her story is to encourage other women who have been sexually assaulted, whether by a stranger or an acquaintance, to report it regardless of when it happened.

"I don't think a lot of women want that part of their life, but for me it was all of my life," she said. "And for me, (getting justice) was the only way for it not to be all my life anymore."