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Was just 13. her own rape kit with her attacker's dna, sat untested on a shelf for more than 20 years. by the time her attacker was identified, the statute of limitations had run out and the man was already in prison. he had been caught after raping two other women while lavinia's kit sat on the shelf. >> we still have a lot of work to do. it's not an easy task. it's a heavy lift. >> reporter: texas state representative victoria niave has been working alongside lavinia for years to clear the rape kit backlog. at one point there were 19,000 untested kits. >> each box is not just a box sitting o...

Report their numbers to the state. so, the number could be much higher which means thousands of rapists could be on the run, possibly raping others. how frustrated are you that thousands of rape kits are still sitting unprocessed on the shelf? >> um, i'm -- i'm very frustrated. >> reporter: she is a member of governor abbott's sexual assault survivors' task force was raped at knifepoint back in 1985. she was just 13. her own rape kit with her attacker's dna sat untested on a shelf for more than 20 years. by the time her attacker was identified, the statute of limitations had run out. and the m...

That that was his response. >> it was flippant, and it was ridiculous, and the sad part was this was part of his priority agenda, so he should have had an actual response ready, whatever that was going to be. but we know this idea that he can wave a magic wand and somehow get rid of rape, my question to the governor is why haven't you gotten rid of rape before, and you need to tell everybody else in this country how to do it, you know, but what we do know is when it comes to policies, there's no money that the governor has actually prioritized for the purpose of processing rape kits. we know t...

A victim's advocate will also be on hand during the exam, or what's traditionally known as a rape kit, to answer questions and share resources.

Another woman, 18-year-old woman was murdered the same night around the same time in a park, yellow river park, connected i say no, m.o. different. i would say no. it was somebody she knew that killed her. this is not a serial killer, however, i do think this perp has either killed or attacked before. interesting, her dog we think may have bit the perp. they are looking at dna in the dog's mouth. they will do a rape kit to find if it was a sex attack but it was a frenzy. nobody heard screams and it happened very quickly. >> dana: i did not know that about the dog bite. that might help find him...