The cases had been cold for a long time… until the arrest of Ladell Sanders last December for five counts of rape and sexual assault. A DNA test cleared Sanders in the Roaming Rapist cases, but it did show a strong likelihood that one of his relatives was responsible.
Sergeant Jason Ramos says detectives then spotted Sanders' younger brother, Dereck throw away a drink cup with a straw still in it, "His DNA was recovered from that. There was an expedited process of that DNA and established a definitive connection between him and the DNA profile constructed from our seven cases."
Dereck Sanders was arrested in Isleton. Ramos says the
Roaming Rapist was unique in that he did not have a particular
method of committing the assaults. Other law enforcement
agencies are talking with the Sacramento Sheriffs department to see
if Dereck Sanders might be a suspect in some of their sexual
assault cases.