This 'CSI: Miami' actress was threatened by a stalker for 12 years. The FBI caught him after he left his DNA on a fast-food straw

"I forgive you, however I can not overlook," LaRue informed him on the sentencing in a Los Angeles County courtroom. "The concern is with me endlessly."

12 years of terror

LaRue is a former magnificence queen and longtime actress who appeared for a few years as a health care provider on the cleaning soap opera "All My Kids." She's in all probability finest recognized for her seven seasons on the crime drama "CSI: Miami," ending in 2012.

Her character was a DNA analyst for the Miami-Dade Police Division, which grew to become a bitter irony when authorities discovered DNA on envelopes containing the threatening letters however could not pinpoint a suspect.

LaRue was halfway via her second full season on "CSI: Miami" when the primary letter confirmed up at her home. Others quickly adopted.

"I'm going to f**king stalk you till the day you die," mentioned one, in response to a 2019 federal indictment of Rogers.

"There will likely be no place on this earth that I ... (cannot) discover you. I'm going to rape you," mentioned one other letter, wherein the stalker additionally threatened to rape and impregnate LaRue's daughter.

The letters had been signed "Freddie Krueger," the fictional killer from the horror movie collection "A Nightmare on Elm Avenue." Many had been postmarked from Youngstown, Ohio.

LaRue informed Muricas News she was so terrified that she finally bought her home and moved together with her household to Italy, the place they lived for a number of months with a pal. She then returned to California and purchased a brand new home below an LLC -- a enterprise entity that gives restricted legal responsibility safety -- to defend her id, however the letters started exhibiting up at that deal with as properly, she mentioned.

LaRue and her daughter "drove circuitous routes house, slept with weapons close by and had discussions about how you can search assist rapidly if [Rogers] discovered them and tried to hurt them," federal prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum.

"They tried to anonymize their addresses as a lot as potential by avoiding receiving mail and packages at their precise deal with," prosecutors mentioned. "To no avail. Every time they moved, [the] letters -- and the victims' terror -- would all the time observe."

In 2015, the household began receiving letters addressed to LaRue's daughter. On the time, she was about 13.

"I'm the person who has been stalking for (the) final 7 years. Now I've set my eye on you too," the primary one learn, in response to the indictment. One other one learn, "You look so lovely in your footage on google. Are you able to be the mom of my baby."

How the FBI caught the stalker

The FBI collected DNA from lots of the envelopes however did not know whose it was till 2019, after they turned to the rising discipline of genetic family tree -- the identical methodology that had fingered the Golden State Killer the earlier yr.

Thanks partially to corporations reminiscent of 23andMe, Ancestry and GEDmatch, genetic family tree has grow to be a invaluable device for legislation enforcement officers attempting to resolve outdated crimes. Authorities add a DNA information file to a public database to establish any kin of the one who may need submitted their DNA for testing. They then construct out household bushes and slim down potential suspects by way of old style detective work till a lead suspect emerges.

Even so, investigators nonetheless should acquire a pattern of the suspect's DNA and make a match earlier than they'll make an arrest.

As soon as the proof pointed to Rogers, FBI brokers started surveilling him. FBI brokers traveled to Ohio within the fall of 2019, former FBI particular agent Stephen Busch and former FBI legal professional Steve Kramer informed Muricas News.

When Rogers left his job as a nurse's assistant at an assisted dwelling facility and went to an Arby's on his manner house, the FBI adopted and watched him eat his meal and discard the bag in a Dumpster, Busch and Kramer mentioned.

Brokers raided the Dumpster and extracted Rogers' DNA from a soda straw within the bag, Busch and Kramer mentioned. It matched the DNA from the envelopes despatched to LaRue and her daughter, they mentioned.

The FBI arrested Rogers at his house early one morning in November 2019.

Rogers' conviction marks the primary time genetic family tree has solved a case on the federal degree, Busch and Kramer informed Muricas News.

Their concern nonetheless lingers

At his sentencing Thursday, Rogers informed the decide by way of a video hyperlink from Ohio that he grew up in an abusive house and was bullied in class. He mentioned he's receiving psychological well being therapy.

"I sincerely apologize for what I did for the final 12 years, placing you and your loved ones via hellish conduct," he mentioned to LaRue. "I settle for full accountability. I hope you possibly can put this behind you and in some unspecified time in the future by no means take into consideration me once more."

LaRue then addressed Rogers in her sufferer affect assertion, thanking him for his apology however telling the decide, "I'm so frightened what is going to occur when he will get out out."

She grew emotional as she informed the courtroom how the repeated threats took a toll on her and her household and disadvantaged them of fundamental freedoms.

"Now we have had years of this," she mentioned. "That is past deviant conduct."

LaRue's daughter Kaya Callahan, now 20, additionally grew to become emotional as she informed the courtroom how she was traumatized by Rogers' threats.

After Rogers contacted her faculty, she mentioned there was such "paranoia" about her security that she was escorted day-after-day to and from the varsity constructing to the car parking zone.

"I used to be afraid for my life," she mentioned. Callahan mentioned her concern nonetheless lingers.

"I need to really feel OK once more," she mentioned. "Secure."