DNA links man to rape, kidnapping, police say

A 34-year-old Dover man was arrested Tuesday in the kidnapping and rape of a Smyrna woman who was abducted after leaving a Dover restaurant a year ago.

The suspect, identified as Fredrick Kaymore, of the 300 block of W. Division St., was linked to the crime by DNA, police said in court records.

Dover police charged Kaymore with two counts of first-degree rape and one count each of second-degree rape, first-degree robbery, first-degree kidnapping, first-degree carjacking and possession of a deadly weapon during a felony.

He was committed to Delaware Correctional Center after failing to post $150,000 bail.

The victim, who was 25, was abducted Feb. 27 after leaving Applebee's at 909 N. Du Pont Highway. A man confronted her about 9 p.m. as she was getting into her car.

The man held a hard metal object to the woman's head and told her to slide over, saying he "wanted her money and sex," police wrote in court records.

The man commandeered the car and drove to the area of Silver Lake Park, about 2 1/2 miles away.

En route to the park, the man forced the woman to undress and perform oral sex, according to court records. At the park, he forced her into the back seat and raped her, the records said. DNA evidence was later collected from the victim's clothing, police said.

Following the attack, the man drove the woman to an alley in downtown Dover, where he got out of the car and fled after taking her cell phone and $143.

The victim drove to a relative's home and reported the rape to Dover police. She was treated at Kent General Hospital. The woman, who suffered "severe emotional" trauma, has moved out of state.

Police Capt. Lester Boney said Tuesday that detectives had worked on the case since that day and developed Kaymore as a suspect.

According to court records, that development came in September after Kaymore allegedly tried to carjack and kidnap another Dover woman using the same tactics.

From the second victim's description, Kaymore was identified and questioned. He claimed a case of mistaken identity.

A detective recognized that Kaymore's description matched that of the man accused in the February rape and discovered that he was living near the alley where the victim was left.

On Jan. 26, Dover police obtained a warrant to collect physical evidence from Kaymore, who possessed characteristics including a pot belly and scar on his left leg that matched the description provided by the rape victim.

Police also said preliminary tests of the DNA indicate an exact match to evidence recovered from the victim's clothing.

More details will be released at a 10 a.m. news conference today at Dover police headquarters, Boney said.