Texas authorities have identified a deceased serial rapist responsible for attacking elderly women in Bastrop County over two decades ago. Emory Earl McVay, who died in 2010, was linked through advanced DNA testing to sexual assaults that occurred between 1997 and 2005.
The breakthrough ends a 28-year investigation that frustrated law enforcement despite DNA evidence connecting the crimes. Modern genealogy research finally provided answers for victims and their families.
The case began on March 27, 2004, when an intruder sexually assaulted an elderly woman in her Bastrop County home. DNA evidence was submitted to CODIS, the national DNA database.
That October, the Texas Department of Public Safety Crime Laboratory found a DNA match to a July 1997 assault in Smithville. The following year brought another match — a July 2005 attack with the same pattern.
Investigators collected DNA samples from numerous suspects over the years. None matched the serial rapist’s profile.
Hope arrived in 2021 when the Texas Rangers enrolled the case in the DPS’s Sexual Assault Kit Initiative program. The federally funded program helps agencies solve cold sexual assault cases.
Bode Technologies began advanced DNA testing and genealogy research on August 11, 2021. The painstaking process took four years to complete.
In August 2025, investigators finally got their answer: Emory Earl McVay of Smithville, who had been dead for 15 years.
McVay had an extensive criminal history in Central Texas, including multiple burglary convictions. His death in 2010 at age 48 meant no arrest could be made.
The Texas Rangers thanked multiple agencies for their dedication to the case. “Cases like this highlight the importance of collaborative investigative work between the Texas Rangers and our partner law enforcement agencies to keep unsolved cases alive, ultimately bringing closure to victims’ families and the community,” officials stated.
The investigation involved the Bastrop County Sheriff’s Office, District Attorney’s Office, Smithville Police Department, and DPS crime laboratories. Their persistence over nearly three decades finally provided answers.