Three months ago, a CBS News investigation uncovered a backlog of untested rape kits sitting in storage at police departments across the country.
The investigation revealed the San Antonio Police Department had 5,191 untested kits in storage. Some of the kits date back nearly 30 years.
"I thought the justice system would take care of me," said Lavinia Masters.
When Masters was 13 years old, she was raped by a stranger who broke into her Dallas home.
Masters’ rape kit went untested for more than two decades.
"I think that I was a number that was tagged and left on the shelf," she said.
Masters’ story has some wondering if there are 5,191 victims in San Antonio just like her waiting for their kits to be tested.
In November, Police Chief William McManus spoke about the tests.
"We don't want to let any case where someone was sexually assaulted fall through the cracks," McManus said.
For the past three months, SAPD has gone back through its 5,191 untested kits to determine which ones need to be tested.
The department discovered 57 of the reported untested kits had actually been tested but had not been updated in the department’s records.
The majority of the remaining untested kits are from cases where the suspect is known, and either no sexual assault occurred or the suspect’s DNA wasn’t needed for a conviction, SAPD said.
Plus, if a suspect is convicted of a sexual assault, the offender’s DNA information would be submitted into a database by the state, so there was no need for SAPD to test it.
Unlike many cities, over the years SAPD has kept these kits. The department said it is re-evaluating its policy on keeping old rape kits.
So after going through the kits, SAPD said it really has 121 untested rape kits.
Chief William McManus said in November that all of these stranger rape kits would be tested.
So far, 38 have been sent off to the lab. SAPD said the kits from stranger rape kits will soon be sent off as well.
It could be a year before all the results are known.
For some, regardless of the results, due to the statute of limitations, it will be too late for a conviction.
Even so, Masters said it may not be too late to change a life.
After sitting on the shelf for more than 20 years, the Dallas Police Department finally tested Masters' rape kit.
"When you tested that kit you told me you care, and that was my whole thing," she said.
The DNA from the kit matched that of now 40-year-old Kevin Turner.
"I can't even put into words how awesome that was to finally have my kit tested and to come back and tell me they know who it was who assaulted me," Masters said.
Turner is currently in jail on other charges, but will never be charged with the assault of Masters. It's too late.
However, Masters said that is something she can live with now that her kit has been tested.
"When my case was solved it was just like I picked right back up when I was 13 years old, and I am just enjoying life now," she said. "It is an awesome feeling."
