A St. Louis man was arrested in Columbia Monday in connection with the rape of a 15-year-old girl in 1997.

Columbia police arrested Corrie Howlett as a result of his submission of a DNA sample to the Combined DNA Index System, which was required by his parole officer.

According to a Columbia Police Department news release, police believe Howlett broke into a home on the 300 block of South Hampton, went into the room of a sleeping 15-year-old girl and sexually assaulted her on July 19, 1997. The perpetrator of the act also held a piece of clothing over the victim’s face, which obstructed her view of the suspect.

Columbia police later collected DNA from the sexual assault survivor and sent the sample to the Missouri Highway Patrol Lab for analysis. The sample could not be identified and was later put into the CODIS, which is the database that holds all known samples of DNA from perpetrators around the country.

The sample went unidentified for years until Oct. 30 when Columbia police received information that it had a hit off of the sample they submitted to CODIS. The news release stated that Howlett, who is now a resident of St. Louis, matched the sample.

Following the identification by St. Louis police, the Columbia police Major Crimes Unit traveled to St. Louis and interviewed Howlett.

Columbia police Sgt. Ken Hammond said, “Howlett made incriminating statements in his interview.” Howlett’s statements led to his arrest, and he has been transferred to Boone County Jail by the Sheriff’s Department.

Howlett is being held on $200,000 bond and has been charged with first-degree burglary and rape.

Hammond said Howlett has a lengthy criminal history, which includes a prior arrest by Columbia police. In 1998, Howlett was arrested because of an outstanding warrant on a misdemeanor charge.

Hammond praises CODIS in its involvement in the arrest and marvels at “how far DNA cases have come.”

“If we have a reliable case, we now have the ability to match up unknown samples into CODIS and get a match,” Hammond said.