Even though the 19-year-old Greeley woman did everything she could to report the rape correctly, two men police believe sexually assaulted her will never be convicted of that crime under Colorado's current laws.

Hours after the men left her in a dark alleyway in the 1500 block of 8th Avenue in the early morning hours of July 31, 1984, she was speaking with a Greeley police detective. Not long after that, she underwent a medical exam, and a nurse collected the DNA evidence. In the days that followed, she walked police through the alleys and side streets, where the two men had threatened to kill her if she didn't submit to them.

She shared details with the detectives many victims say are agonizing and humiliating.

But the investigation stalled.

For over three decades, not much else happened. She had no idea who the men were who raped her that night, and, it seemed, neither did police or prosecutors.

The rape kit the nurse collected remained in the Greeley Police Department's evidence bay for another three decades.

In 2013, the Colorado Legislature passed a law that required all backlogged rape kits to be submitted to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation to be tested for a possible DNA match. The goal was to close as many cold sexual assault cases as possible. The Greeley Police Department submitted the 1984 kit, and, in December 2015, 31 years after the victim reported the assault to the police, the CBI found two matches for the DNA evidence collected from her body.

Weld prosecutors now had physical evidence linking two men to the case. They had notes from an interview the woman gave police hours after she said she was raped. They were even able to find the two men — Rusty Barnhart and Innocencio Trevino. Barnhart lived in Texas and Trevino was in prison in Sterling for an unrelated crime.

But they will never be charged with sexual assault.

They'd lost their chance in 1987. Back then, the statute of limitations on rape — the time limit a victim has to press charges — was three years. After that, even if a victim came forward with good evidence and cooperated with police and prosecutors, a defendant could not be charged.

The Weld District Attorney's office is still prosecuting Barnhart and Trevino. Both men are now charged with kidnapping, which has no statue of limitations.

In 2016, Gov. John Hickenlooper signed a bill into law extending the statute to 20 years.

Two decades is a long time for a case to remain open. But it wouldn't have been long enough for the justice system to close the 1984 case. For some lawmakers and advocates in Weld County, the case is a bitter lesson in why they believe the time limit on sexual assault cases needs to be abolished.

Greeley Police Chief Jerry Garner said he's seen other rape cases blocked by the statute of limitations. It's not common, he said, but sometimes victims come forward after the time limit is up. He said he knows it happens to other Colorado police departments each year as well.

Sending a message

In many ways, the 1984 rape case was an anomaly.

The victim in that case did not know her attackers, but according to the Sexual Assault Victims' Advocate Center, 90 percent of its clients do know their attackers.

The woman in 1984 reported the crime, but an estimated 63 percent of victims don't, according to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center.

Laura Larson, executive director of the Sexual Assault Survivors Advocate Center in Greeley and Fort Collins, said she never tries to push victims to report. She can name myriad reasons why they wouldn't want to.

Since most victims are raped by a friend, family member or relationship partner, oftentimes survivors do not want that person to get into trouble. Reporting the crime might out the victim to everyone in the social circle, which can be embarrassing. Sometimes, Larson said, it is easier for victims to blame themselves than to accept they live in a violent and dangerous world.

Often, they have a deep distrust of the legal system, which is why putting a limit on the amount of time victims have to seek justice sends the wrong message, she said.

"The culture is still there that blames the victim," she said. "It says, 'If you were truly victimized you would've reported it.' We have very little history (as a nation) of believing the victim."

Larson pointed out until the 1980s, it was common practice for defense attorneys to interrogate victims in court. The questions were not gentle. Attorneys usually asked victims about what they were wearing or whether they had been drinking on the day of the rape. Often, the cross-examination was little more than a thinly veiled insinuation the victim wanted the sex and lied about it being forced. Many victims said the experiences were hurtful and degrading. The effects of going to trial were severe enough the phrase "re-victimization by the system" has become a common way of describing it.

Larson said fear of not being believed still keeps many victims silent. She knows that from talking to them.

Rourke said he has also seen the inherent bias victims sometimes face in court.

"There's antiquated beliefs and victim-blaming that we have to overcome," he said. "(Rapes) are the hardest crimes to prosecute."

Suspicion of the legal system is understandable, so Rourke said his office works hard to make victims feel they are believed. In 2010, the Weld District Attorney's office went so far as to establish a team of three lawyers, the special victims' unit, which exclusively handles sexual assault and crimes against children. Those prosecutors, he said, disassemble a police report piece by piece and try to corroborate them to make a victim's story credible to a jury.

Still, Rourke said he thinks eliminating the statute of limitations on sexual assault would send the right message to victims.

"There's no statute of limitations for murder," he said. "That's the most horrific crime a person can commit, but sexually assaulting a victim is next on the spectrum. There's no statute of limitations on forgery, but we as a society have decided there will be … on sexual assault."

Larson agrees.

"It's an incredibly powerful message to know it still matters and society still cares," she said.

Lifelong effects

Of the victims Larson works with through the Sexual Assault Victims Advocate Center, 90 percent are older than 18. Yet, she said, 41 percent of her clients were sexually assaulted when they were younger than 18. There is no statute of limitations for sexual assault on a child — which in itself is a development of the last 10 years — but Larson feels the disparity between those two numbers illustrates how long it can take victims to report any sort of rape.

Given their social fears, combined with the uncertainty of the judicial process, many victims choose to suppress the experience and not tell anyone. This can be devastating — 93 percent of victims develop PTSD in the weeks following a sexual assault, according to the Rape Abuse and Incest National Network.

"You can go on and on trying to explain this horrible thing that happened to you," she said. "The easiest way out is to blame oneself, but then you never get healing."

That trauma can last a lifetime.

"It can be very difficult (for victims) to have a fulfilling intimate relationship," she said. "(They say) 'the last time I trusted somebody, they violated me.'"

Larson said she's worked with middle-aged victims who were raped as teenagers, and who now have teenagers themselves. Concern for their own children's safety can rip open wounds victims long since thought were healed. She didn't have an exact figure, but she said a significant number of her organization's clients are middle-aged people still dealing with the realities of being raped years ago.

For Rourke, that's another reason abolishing the statute of limitations is long since overdue.

"There's no statute of limitations on grieving and trauma," he said. "Why should the offender have an out-date?"

In addition to the victims who spend years coming to terms with the fact they were raped, some survivors might not even know their experiences met the legal definitions of sexual assault, said Colorado Attorney General Cynthia Coffman. She said sometimes victims only realize years later through therapy.

She added her office has been supportive of legislation to extend or abolish the statute of limitations on sexual assault.

"It would let victims know people involved in the criminal justice system take seriously the trauma inflicted," she said, "and the fact that that trauma lasts for a lifetime."

Laws

Last year, in the wake of public outcry following accusations actor Bill Cosby had raped a long list of women as many as 50 years ago, Colorado extended its statute of limitations to 20 years.

It wasn't the way Colorado Sen. John Cooke wrote the bill, but for many victims and advocates, it was a step in the right direction.

Cooke's original bill proposed eliminating the statute of limitations on sexual assault altogether. Cooke, whose former career in law enforcement included terms as Weld County Sheriff, witnessed firsthand the destruction sexual assault can wreak on victims and their families. He handled rape cases personally as a detective. So when multiple advocacy groups asked him to work with them on crafting legislation, they found him willing.

But there are those who believe trying someone for a crime they committed more than 20 years ago is unfair.

Prosecuting a case after decades comes with a unique set of challenges. At a February 2016 hearing on the bill at the Colorado State Capitol, Laurie Rose Kepros, a public defender, pointed out old evidence in rape cases can deteriorate and memories can fade.

"The older cases get, the longer time passes, memories fade, so extending the statute of limitations could subject a person to prosecution on less-reliable evidence," Rourke said, paraphrasing the arguments he's heard against removing the time limit.

Coffman, Colorado's attorney general, said she doesn't believe abolishing the statute of limitations would result in a rush of unjust convictions.

"I think the system filters out those cases that are weak," she said. "A judge will not tolerate a prosecutor trying to bring a case that can't be proven."

Rourke is also quick to point out his office does its best to prosecute people who falsely report rape. He cited the case of Katherine Bennett, a woman found guilty of lying to police by saying a Windsor man had kidnapped and raped her at knifepoint. In August 2014, she was found guilty of three felonies as a result.

Rourke said such cases detract from the legitimacy of actual victims.

"That's my job, that before I charge somebody with this most heinous offense, I have reliable, trustworthy evidence," he said.

Coffman said she hopes as people become more comfortable with the idea of an extended statute of limitations, they'll grow accustomed to the idea of removing them completely.

"We're not opening the floodgates for accusations," she said.

Moving Forward

The alleyways and side streets where two men raped the 19-year-old Greeley woman in 1984 do not exist anymore. New buildings have gone up in the 1500 block of 8th Avenue. In the interim, the victim moved to another state and no longer has the same last name.

Barnhart and Trevino have trials scheduled this spring and summer. At an August court hearing, Rourke said the woman does not plan on testifying in the trial.

Larson said she knows not every victim will find solace in the legal system. But for some, she said, it can be cathartic to see justice served. Those victims, she said, should have the right to seek that catharsis at any point in their healing.

Coffman said she's heard from victims and victim advocates who told her the case was a turning point for them.

"Sometimes this is the ultimate resolution," she said.