Arrest Made in Cold Case Rape

Broward Sheriff's Detectives think they may have finally broken the case of a young woman who was brutally raped and stabbed 25 years ago in Deerfield Beach, and it was the victim's persistence that likely helped them.

Renis Olriedge, 45, sits in a Broward County jail Thursday, charged with armed sexual battery and kidnapping in the shocking Oct. 25, 1985 attack of a teen girl at Deerfield Beach High School.

According to police, the victim, a 14-year-old freshman at the time, was walking across the campus on her way home when she encountered Olriedge outside a portable classroom.

"He ordered her to get underneath the portable," said Det. Eric Hendel, with the Broward Sheriff's Office. "As he began to crawl underneath he grabbed her by the arms and pulled her all the way underneath the portables. He put a towel over her face, removed her clothing and raped her."

When the girl struggled and tried to get away, Olriedge allegedly stabbed her.

After the rape, Olriedge told the girl he knew where she lived and that he would kill her if he saw media coverage of the rape.

The girl reported the attack, and evidence was collected in a rape kit, but her attacker wasn't identified and the case went cold.

It wasn't until 2007, at the victim's urging, that the attacker's DNA was entered into a national database. And if it wasn't for a 2008 cocaine possession arrest for Olriedge, he might never have been caught.

The database scored a hit this September, and Olriedge, who had been living in a homeless shelter in West Palm Beach, was arrested.

It turns out Olriedge was 20 years old, homeless, and living on the streets of Deerfield Beach at the time of the 1985 attack.

"He had no clue what we were talking about," said Det. Hendel. "I asked him repeatedly why his DNA would wind up within this woman from 25 years ago."

Olriedge is now being held without bond. Hendel said the arrest might be able to bring a bit of closure to the victim, who is now 39-years-old.

"She's gone on with her life, although she carries some very very deep emotional scars from this issue," he said.