Melvin Grover

The FBI began awarding the Biometric Identification Award in 2015, amended to cover all biometrics rather than just fingerprints. IAFIS had been replaced at the same time by the more sophisticated Next Generation Identification, or NGI System, which featured a number of services designed to aid law enforcement organizations.

Detective Melvin Grover of the Norfolk Police Department in Virginia received the honor that year. As a reminder, the prize is given for resolving significant violent crimes of all types, not only murder. Grover's case involved a terrible double rape that was carried out on the same victim four weeks apart, which the new NGI System assisted him in solving.

Police found DNA and fingerprints at the location of the first incident in August 2008, but they were unable to link them to anything in their database. Four weeks later, the same mother was the target of a second, even more violent assault in which the perpetrator also abused her daughter. More prints were discovered by investigators at the scene, confirming that the same individual had committed both murders, but they did not match anything in their databases.

Before 2010, when an unexpected lead arrived from Kuwait, the trail fell cold. DNA found at the scene linked the attempted rape of a female officer to the attacks in Norfolk, according to military authorities looking into the case. Despite the fact that it appeared to be the same individual, there are still no suspects.

The FBI's adoption of the new NGI System, which permitted the inclusion of civil records in latent searches, marked the final milestone in 2013. When the attacks occurred, Amin Garcia, a reserve soldier who had previously served, was in Norfolk and Kuwait. He was later adjudicated guilty in both instances.

• Year: 2015