RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Investigators compared online family tree data with crime-scene DNA evidence to identify and track down a suspect in a series of North Carolina rapes from a decade ago, police said Wednesday.

One of the lead detectives called the approach, similar to what was used in the "Golden State Killer" cold case in California, a "game-changer" for investigators who had few leads in the assaults that terrorized Fayetteville starting in 2006.

Darold Wayne Bowden, 43, has been charged with multiple rape counts related to six assaults from 2006 to 2008, the Fayetteville Police Departmen...