Investigators: DNA links man to rape in 2000


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By AMY HAMILTON

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

In what may be only the second time a sexual assault suspect in Mesa County has been identified through DNA, investigators linked a Grand Junction man to an assault that occurred nearly nine years ago.

Jorge Hurtado-Ruiz, 30, was in custody Wednesday at the Mesa County Jail on a $500,000 bond. He faces felony charges of first-degree sex assault and kidnapping.

According to an arrest affidavit, investigators with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation connected Hurtado-Ruiz’ DNA to the rape of a then-38-year-old Grand Junction woman during a July 2, 2000, incident.

Hurtado-Ruiz was arrested recently after he was picked up by federal authorities attempting to illegally enter the United States, Mesa County District Attorney Pete Hautzinger said in court Wednesday.

“This individual has been deported more than once and returned more than once,â€