SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) _ The Missouri Attorney General’s Office says almost 4,890 rape kits sitting in police evidence lockers or hospital storage likely represents only a fraction of the untested evidence across the state.
The Springfield News-Leader reports fewer than half of the surveyed law enforcement agencies responded by the time preliminary results were released last month.
A spokeswoman for Attorney General Josh Hawley said Thursday 74 more surveys have since come in, showing an additional 363 untested rape kits, which is evidence collected after alleged sexual assaults.
The office estimates it could take until the end of March 2019 to conduct a comprehensive statewide inventory of untested kits.
Hawley’s office has requested more than $2.8 million in U.S. Justice Department grant money to begin testing the kits backlog and to establish a statewide tracking system.
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