At the Colorado Capitol on Monday, survivors of sexual assault bravely shared their stories, shining a light on a serious problem: the long wait for DNA evidence to be processed in their cases. Right now, it can take a year and a half — sometimes even longer — for the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to process the DNA collected in these investigations. For victims waiting for justice, that wait feels endless.
Miranda Spencer knows that feeling all too well. She’s been waiting two years for the results of her sexual assault kit. “You feel more and more powerless each week,” she said. “You feel less and less like a human.” When her estimated processing time came and went without answers, she spent weeks desperately trying to get someone to listen and care.
Nina Petrovik also shared her experience. After her assault in 2020, she went through a difficult and invasive medical exam where hospital staff collected DNA evidence. “That was probably one of the most lonely experiences I’ve ever had in my life,” she recalled. “It just felt so humiliating, not having anyone to turn to.” Her kit took nine months longer to process than she’d been told.
These emotional testimonies were part of a town hall hosted by the Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault, where survivors and lawmakers gathered to confront the issue. Outgoing CBI Director Chris Schaefer admitted that the system has failed victims. “We are not meeting your expectations, and we’re not meeting ours,” he told those in attendance.
Schaefer, who’s been with CBI for 30 years, announced his retirement just hours after the town hall. He insisted his departure was planned and not connected to the backlash, saying he’s received only support from his colleagues. But the backlog of unprocessed kits remains a massive problem — and it only got worse last year.
In January, lawmakers learned the wait times had doubled, partly because of a shocking scandal involving former CBI forensic scientist Yvonne “Missy” Woods. She’s accused of tampering with over a thousand DNA test results in criminal cases and now faces more than 100 criminal charges. Reviewing her cases took half of CBI’s DNA scientists away from new work, causing an overwhelming pile-up of evidence waiting to be tested.
CBI has promised to clear the backlog of 1,407 cases by the end of this year. Moving forward, their goal is to process new cases within 90 days — though they hope to get that wait time down even more.
For lawmakers like Democratic Sen. Mike Weissman of Aurora, that promise isn’t enough. He’s working on legislation to give CBI more funding to outsource DNA testing and require more transparency and accountability. The bureau has already started providing monthly progress reports and launched a public status dashboard on its website so people can track their cases.
Weissman stressed the importance of keeping victims at the heart of the conversation. “Behind every one of those kits is a human being who suffered something awful,” he said. “We want to help justice be done.”
Democratic Rep. Jenny Willford has been pushing hard to keep this issue in the spotlight, too — because it’s personal. She was sexually assaulted by a Lyft driver in Thornton a year ago, and she’s still waiting for her DNA results from CBI.
For survivors, the wait for answers — and justice — is agonizing. And until the system changes, their voices will continue to demand action.
