ICE DNA Match and FBI CODIS Break Lead to Arrest in Decade-Long Marion County Serial Rape Case

Leonel Catalan-Torreblanca was arrested and charged with 30 counts in a serial rape investigation spanning more than a decade in Marion County, Indiana, after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) DNA collection produced a match in the FBI's Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), authorities said.

Prosecutor Ryan Mears told reporters that the charges include felony counts that, under Indiana’s previous penal code, carry potential sentences totaling up to 50 years. The series of alleged assaults stretches from the first reported incident in March 2013 to the most recent alleged attack in January 2024.

How the Case Was Cracked

Officials said investigators had long known the crimes were connected because DNA from multiple crime scenes matched one another in CODIS, but those profiles had no match to any known offender — until an ICE DNA collection allowed Catalan-Torreblanca's profile to be entered into the database.

Authorities said Catalan-Torreblanca previously avoided entering the DNA system because his only prior contact with the criminal justice system was a misdemeanor DUI arrest, which under state rules does not require a DNA swab. The recent ICE collection produced the CODIS hit that linked him to the crime-scene profiles.

Officials said ICE DNA collection led to the positive identification and charges.

Arrest and Official Response

FBI Special Agent in Charge Tim O'Malley confirmed that Catalan-Torreblanca is in the United States illegally, though officials said they are not certain of his country of origin. The FBI expedited identity confirmation on April 22; within about four hours of that confirmation, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department's Violent Crimes Unit located and arrested him at a relative's residence.

FBI Director Kash Patel praised the investigative work on X, noting that advanced DNA technology and the CODIS system were central to identifying and charging the suspect. Catalan-Torreblanca is being held on a standard bond; it was not immediately clear whether ICE has lodged an immigration detainer.

Victims and Next Steps

Prosecutor Mears commended the "incredible strength and resiliency" of survivors who cooperated with investigators and were required to revisit traumatic experiences to assist the case. Authorities warned that the suspect may have lived near apartment complexes where some assaults occurred and said there could be additional victims or related incidents that currently lack DNA evidence linking them to this suspect.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and ICE did not immediately respond to requests for comment.