Hi Reader,

In 2021, ProPublica published the extraordinary story of a doctor who began quietly preserving DNA evidence from rape victims, starting in the 1970s, even though nothing could be done with the samples at the time. The doctor believed science would eventually catch up.

He was right. Decades later, Baltimore police began using the samples, one at a time, to connect cases together, reshape conventional wisdom about rapists and solve more than 80 cold cases. But even then, only a sliver of the doctor’s more than 2,000 samples had been tested, and the rest were still sitting in the hospital. Police staffing shortages, budgetary constraints, evidence backlogs and more made it difficult for law enforcement to prioritize acquiring and testing the full trove of evidence.

But after ProPublica’s story, a Maryland law was passed classifying the slides as official rape evidence and requiring the police department to count them among its rape kit backlog and retain them. From those slides, evidence collected from five women between 1978 and 1986 helped detectives locate and arrest an alleged serial rapist just a few months ago.

This series is a powerful illustration of ProPublica’s mission to use the moral force of investigative journalism to shine a light on injustice and spur change. Our reporters are able to follow stories like this because readers like you support us.

As a nonprofit newsroom, we turn to individuals to help pay for our journalism. In the last year, over 50,000 individuals have stepped up and made a donation to support this critical, impactful work. Through the power of many, ProPublica is one of the largest investigative newsrooms in the country. We need your help, too.

We’ve got investigations brewing all over the country, and as we plan for 2024, it makes a big difference to know that we can continue to count on the tens of thousands of members each doing their part to support this newsroom. Join us today with a donation of any amount, and stand up for journalism that gets results, no matter how long it takes.

Thanks so much,

Jill Shepherd
Proud ProPublican