After a kidnapping and rape went unsolved in Danbury, Conn., for more than three decades, cops finally made an arrest in the case on Tuesday.
David Coffey, 53, was detained and charged with abducting and raping a woman in 1989, police said. Investigators believe Coffey may be connected to a series of kidnappings and sexual assaults across a Danbury neighborhood at the time.
“In the late 1980s, in the area of Lake Avenue/Merrimac Street, Danbury police detectives investigated a series of incidents that alarmed the neighborhood, including the abduction and rape of female residents,” Danbury police wrote Wednesday in a press release. “Despite the diligent efforts of the investigators at the time, the cases went cold.”
But in November 2023, a woman approached Danbury cops and identified herself as a victim of the 1980s crime spree, cops said. Her story matched a police report from the time, and officers reopened the case.
Investigators reinterviewed people related to the case at the time and used “resources that were not available in the late 1980s,” Danbury police said.
Cops worked with the Danbury State’s Attorney and the state forensic lab to identify Coffey as a suspect. He was arrested Tuesday and charged with first-degree kidnapping, police said. His bail was set at $750,000.
Police did not say exactly what evidence led to Coffey’s arrest beyond noting that he lived in the area at the time of the crimes.
Authorities also asked anyone with information about Coffey and/or the series of kidnappings and rapes in the 1980s to contact them. Danbury police said “these incidents are still being actively investigated, and other arrests are pending.”