Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) GranteeState of New Jersey

In FY2020, the New Jersey Department of Law & Public Safety received $918,058 in SAKI funding to assist with sexual assault cases—including active unresolved cases, as well as cold cases from 2003 or prior. The funding is being utilized for testing and/or retesting evidence items, budgeting for training and overtime, enhancing victim services, and paying for travel related to engagements with persons of interest. A full-time site coordinator has also been hired. Since 2003, the New Jersey State Police have been able to resolve 98% of cases that have sexual assault-related evidence available.

In FY2022, the State of New Jersey was awarded an additional $1.5 million of funding to continue the re-investigation and prosecution efforts on approximately 59 sexual assault and sexual-related homicides. Additionally, funding will be utilized to support personnel, training, investigative travel, enhanced victim services, and maintaining compliance with recommendations from the FBI's Violent Criminal Apprehension Program (ViCAP). Specifically, a significant amount of project funding will be used for advanced DNA testing methodologies, such as DNA phenotyping, forensic genetic genealogy, and kinship testing.

In FY2023, SAKI awarded the New Jersey Department of Law & Public Safety $2 million to develop and launch a statewide sexual assault kit tracking system. This system will require all law enforcement agencies and forensic nurse examiner programs across the state to enter and track every Sexual Assault Forensic Evidence (SAFE) kit currently in their possession and all future kits turned over to them. The tracking system will provide every victim of sexual assault with the ability to track the progress of their kit and case. Additionally, the new system will allow monitoring of kits from collection through processing to aid in better identification of delays in submission or analysis and to improve collaboration with other tracking systems including the Combined DNA Index System and ViCAP. Funds will also be used to expand long-term storage capacity for SAFE kits. New Jersey is committed to collaboration with stakeholders including prosecutors, law enforcement agencies, forensic laboratories, victim advocacy agencies, healthcare providers, and victims and survivors to optimize the handling of sexual assault kits in New Jersey and ensure that the needs of all involved, particularly victims, are met.

In FY2023, SAKI awarded the New Jersey State Police (NJSP) $1.4 million to support the investigation of unsolved violent cold case crimes through advanced DNA testing, research methodologies, and investigative tools. With the increasing cost of advanced technology platforms and the limited capacity of NJSP to use these platforms, grant funds for testing are essential to assist with the necessary efforts to reinvestigate unsolved violent cold case crimes. NJSP will use funds for (a) testing or retesting evidence items in these cases; (b) training and overtime; (c) enhancing victim services; (d) travel costs associated to engagements with persons of interest; and (e) case review and further analysis of the violent cold case crimes. Detectives from the NJSP Cold Case Unit will work in partnership with the Cold Case Regional Task Force, the NJSP Office of Forensic Sciences, the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General, prosecutor's offices throughout New Jersey, and victim advocates.

In FY2024, the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General received $2,500,000 in SAKI funding to advance sexual assault kit testing and strengthen statewide investigative efforts. The grant will support personnel costs, including expanding the project manager role, hiring case analysts to verify kit statuses, and adding a technical support position for the state's kit tracking system. Funding will also enhance collaboration among law enforcement, forensic labs, victim advocates, and healthcare providers to improve sexual assault kit handling and victim support.

For more information on the specific SAKI awards for this site, see the table below.

State of New Jersey Funding

Year	Amount	Purpose Area
FY2020	$918,058	Investigation and Prosecution of Cold Case Sexual Assaults
FY2022	$1,500,000	Investigation and Prosecution of Cold Case Sexual Assaults
FY2023	$2,000,000	Comprehensive Approach to Unsubmitted Sexual Assault Kits
FY2023	$1,400,000	National Cold Case Initiative
FY2024	$2,500,000	Comprehensive Approach to Unsubmitted Sexual Assault Kits

Please direct all media inquiries to:

Kaitlyn Marcinczyk
Kaitlyn.marcinczyk@njsp.org

News and Events

North Carolina Resident Arrested and Charged in 1990 Sussex County Cold Case
— New Jersey State Police, Apr 13, 2026
The New Jersey State Police and the Sussex County Prosecutor's Office announce the arrest of Robert McCaffrey Jr., 54, of Manteo, NC, following an investigation into the 1990 murder of Lisa McBride of Highland Lakes, NJ. On October 20, 1990, at approximately 9:30 a.m., a hunter discovered skeletal remains in a wooded area off Old Mine Road in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area in Sandyston Township in Sussex County. Due to the advanced decomposition of the body, the cause and manner of death could not be determined. Through the use of dental records, the identity was confirmed to be Lisa Marie McBride, who went missing on June 22, 1990. The case remained with the New Jersey State Police Major Crime Unit until the creation of the New Jersey State Police Cold Unit in February 2020. In August 2020, key evidence was submitted to DNA Laboratories International for advanced testing, as DNA testing had advanced over the years. DNA obtained at the time only confirmed that a male profile was only suitable for direct comparison, but not eligible for a Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) entry - digital DNA profile. Over the next 5 years, detectives conducted extensive follow-up to include comparing the profile against more than 50 individuals and numerous polygraphs. In 2014, following an arrest in connection with the disappearance of his wife, Gayle McCaffrey (who remains missing) in Charleston County, South Carolina, on March 18, 2012, McCaffrey’s DNA profile was entered into CODIS. In 2022, as part of the ongoing investigation, McBride’s remains were exhumed to obtain a definitive DNA sample for comparison. This step was essential because of advancements in DNA analysis, particularly modern genotyping, which enabled investigators to separate the unknown male’s DNA from the mixed sample. This separation was crucial for meeting the requirements for CODIS entry. This CODIS entry proved pivotal to investigative efforts. In February 2026, a CODIS match identified the male DNA contributor as Robert William McCaffrey Jr. Subsequent investigative efforts confirmed that McCaffrey was living in Sussex County at the time of McBride’s disappearance. On April 10, 2026, the Nags Head Police Department conducted a motor vehicle stop on McCaffrey in North Carolina, and he was taken into custody. A court-authorized residential search warrant resulted in the recovery of 5 firearms. McCaffrey was charged with murder, kidnapping, and burglary and was lodged in the Dare County Detention Center pending extradition to New Jersey. These cold case investigative initiatives in New Jersey are made possible through the NJSP-awarded SAKI grant, which provides critical support for the examination of unresolved violent crimes by funding advanced DNA testing, enhanced research methodologies, and modern investigative technologies. The specialized expertise and advanced analytical capabilities of the NJSP Forensic Laboratory have substantially strengthened the State’s ability to identify offenders and have provided affected families with greater opportunities for a long-awaited resolution.

New Jersey Launches Statewide Tracking System for Sexual Assault Evidence Kits
— Alley Shubert, Aug 13, 2025
The new system provides survivors with unprecedented transparency, allowing them to track the status of their forensic exams, as state leaders work to address a backlog of thousands of untested kits.

Canadian man sentenced in Old Bridge woman's 1997 strangling in Bridgewater
— Mike Deak, MyCentralJersey.com, Jul 28, 2025
"A Canadian man has been sentenced to 10 years in state prison for killing a woman in Bridgewater almost 28 years ago, one of Somerset County's oldest cold cases. In January 2023, detectives from the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit met with detectives from the New Jersey State Police Cold Case Unit as part of their Garden State Cold Case Network and Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) Grant to discuss the ongoing investigation. As a result, detectives determined that evidence collected in the investigation could be resubmitted for DNA testing, which may not have been possible in previous years."

He killed her with his bare hands, dumped her body then fled to Canada
— shorenewsnetwork, May 20, 2025
"A 61-year-old man pled guilty Monday to aggravated manslaughter in the 1997 killing of Tamara “Tammy” Tignor, closing a 27-year-old cold case that remained unsolved until a DNA match identified him as the suspect. Robert A. Creter admitted in Somerset County Superior Court that he manually strangled Tignor with his bare hands on November 4, 1997, in Bridgewater Township, causing her death. His guilty plea was accepted by Judge Angela F. Borkowski. In January 2023, detectives from the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office and the New Jersey State Police Cold Case Unit revisited the case through the Garden State Cold Case Network and Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) Grant. Evidence from the crime scene was resubmitted for forensic testing, resulting in a high-stringency DNA match to Creter on April 6, 2023."

AG Platkin Announces $2 Million in Federal Funding to Offer Survivors of Sexual Assault a Way to Track the Progress of Their Case
— Office of the Attorney General – Matthew J. Platkin, Nov 3, 2023
"Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin today announced the receipt of $2 million in competitive federal funding to establish an advanced tracking system for the state’s Sexual Assault Forensic Exam (SAFE) Kits. SAFE Kits are used to preserve physical evidence collected from medical forensic examinations conducted by qualified nurses after an individual has experienced an act of sexual violence. This endeavor is part of an ongoing commitment to provide victims of sexual abuse with support and transparency in navigating the criminal justice process."

Arrest made in 1996 sex assault of girl during home invasion, police say
— NJ.com, Sep 17, 2021
A man was charged this week with sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl during a Jersey Shore home invasion 25 years ago after investigators used DNA evidence and FGG to identify the attacker, authorities said.