Keegan Kyle

USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

MADISON, Wis. — A groundbreaking study in 2014 revealed that police agencies from 173 Wisconsin communities had never submitted sexual assault evidence to crime labs, leaving the material scattered in local storage rooms and its potential value kept a mystery.

But the number of communities touched by the mountain of untested evidence, which state authorities are now pushing to address with grant funding, is actually much larger, according to USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin's review of a new state study.

The list of communities now includes Racine, Superior, Waupun, Wisconsin Dells and dozens of other cities with municipal police departments, as well as Fond du Lac, Marathon, Milwaukee and 14 other counties where sheriff's offices didn't submit evidence.

Police agencies from the newly identified communities reported having in storage nearly 1,200 packages of untested evidence, known colloquially as rape kits, which contain biological samples taken after allegations of sexual assault. The evidence can be used to help identify suspects or corroborate witness statements.

Wisconsin’s first study of untested rape kits found more than 6,000 packages in police storage rooms. Although nearly 1,200 additional kits were found in the second study, the statewide total hasn't changed significantly because some kits have been tested or destroyed since the first study. Also, some police agencies have revised their tallies of kits due to previous reporting errors.

Both studies were by driven by the state Department of Justice. The first narrowly sought to estimate how much evidence hadn’t been sent to crime labs for DNA analysis. The second, required by new grant funding, sought an updated count under stricter definitions, and officials asked agencies to explain why evidence wasn't tested.

Law enforcement authorities in Wisconsin and across the nation have become increasingly interested in testing rape kits with advances in DNA technology and the prospect of using evidence to help identify serial rapists. Wisconsin has received $5.1 million in grants since 2015 to study its kits and to have many tested.

Neither effort has been swift, however. Key details from the state's second study, such as empirical data explaining why kits weren't submitted by police agencies to crime labs, still haven't been released. Testing finally began this year and is expected to continue through next summer. The state estimates 3,800 to 4,000 kits will be tested.

DOCUMENTS: Results of 2014 and 2017 untested rape kit studies

The number of kits reported by some police agencies has shifted dramatically since 2014.

Milwaukee police reported having more than 2,600 untested rape kits in storage as part of Wisconsin's first study, but the department now reports having fewer than 900 on hand. Police in Wausau and Sheboygan also reported dozens fewer kits in the new study than were previously counted.

Milwaukee and Wausau police officials attributed the decline to confusion over how kits were supposed to be counted in the first study. Milwaukee police said some kits were counted twice, while Wausau police said they counted all kits on hand in 2014, including some that were tested.

Read more:

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Other police officials said some kits previously counted have been destroyed. Appleton police reported destroying 43 kits between 2014 and 2015. Sheboygan Police Chief Christopher Domagalski said some kits stored by his agency were destroyed while others have been turned over the state or tested in crime labs.

Appleton police Sgt. Dave Lund said kits can be destroyed after a variety of events, including a completed investigation that determines allegations are unfounded, expiring statute of limitations, and suspects being arrested, found guilty, sentenced or discharged from custody.

Dane County and Racine agencies have reported the largest increases in untested kits. State records show Madison police estimated having 400 kits in 2014 and have since counted more than twice that number; it's unclear why. Racine police didn’t participate in the first study and counted 246 kits for the new study.

Fond du Lac police reported having 125 untested kits for the new study, up from 70 three years ago. Capt. Aaron Goldstein said the old number was an estimate based on an internal database of stored evidence. But not all evidence is tracked in the database, he said. When the agency completed a hand-count for the new study, dozens more kits were found.

Aside from newly discovered kits at police agencies, the state's second study also found about 200 more kits stored by hospitals and rape crisis centers across the state. Most of those kits were reported by Aurora hospitals in Milwaukee and West Allis. Aurora representatives did not provide an explanation.

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