35-Year-Old Child Molestation Cold Case Solved: RI State Police

EXETER, RI — Rhode Island State Police arrested an Indiana man after they said they solved a 35-year-old sexual assault case.

State Police said Frank Thies, 66, of Terre Haute, Indiana, sexually assaulted two teen girls in Exeter in 1987.

Haute was taken in custody last month and was charged with one count of first-degree sexual assault and two counts of first-degree child molestation.

Case Timeline

April 12, 1987

Rhode Island State Police were called to an Exeter home for a report of an 11-year-old girl and a 13-year-old girl being forced into the woods at knifepoint and sexually assaulted by a man they didn't know.

State Police collected evidence of the suspected DNA profile of the offender. This evidence was preserved and used to compare with several possible suspects developed throughout the years, who were then excluded as contributors to the DNA sample. The investigation turned into a cold case due to a lack of new leads.

2005

With the advent of the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), an attempt to solve the case was made, but no new leads were generated. Once entered into CODIS, the unknown DNA sample was searched against new entries into the database.

2019

The Rhode Island State Police Forensic Services Unit with the Rhode Island Department of Health re-examined the evidence and researched and initiated a request for genetic genealogy.

August 2022

Detectives got a lead that the suspect was likely one of three brothers originally from Erie County, New York, all with various military service. State Police said detectives worked with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and learned that the oldest brother, Frank Thies, with no previous known ties to Rhode Island, reported to the Naval Justice School in Newport, the day before the assault.

With the help of the Indiana State Police, a discarded sample of Thies' DNA was obtained, tested, and found to be a match consistent to the suspected DNA profile of the offender, State Police said.

Oct. 19, 2022

Indiana State Police placed Frank Thies into custody as a Fugitive from Justice and held him pending extradition to Rhode Island.

Thies was arraigned in Washington Superior Court in South Kingstown on Thursday

Thies served in the U.S. Marines and U.S. Navy. State Police said he is believed to have lived in New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Virginia, Mississippi, Tennessee, Washington D.C., Texas, Italy, and the United Kingdom.

Anyone with information about Thies is asked to call the Rhode Island State Police Special Victims Unit at 401-764-5394.

The child molestation charge carries a prison sentence of 25 years to life, while the sexual assault charge carries a sentence of 10 years to life.