Investigators identified Timothy J. Dubois Jr. through location data, DNA evidence and forensic investigative genetic genealogy.

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. — An Illinois man has been sentenced to 120 years in prison for abducting a 21-year-old woman at knifepoint from a Starbucks parking lot and sexually assaulting her after forcing her to drive to another community on Veterans Day in 2022.

Madison County Circuit Judge Tim Berkley imposed the sentence July 9 on Timothy J. Dubois Jr., 42, of Shobonier. A jury convicted Dubois in May of charges that included aggravated criminal sexual assault, aggravated kidnapping and aggravated criminal sexual abuse. Because of the way the prison terms were imposed and Illinois rules governing how much of them must be served, Dubois faces a minimum of about 68 years in custody. The sentence marked the end of the trial-court phase of a case that began on the evening of Nov. 11, 2022. Prosecutors said the woman was sitting alone in her vehicle while waiting for an order near a Starbucks in Collinsville. Dubois entered the vehicle while carrying a large knife and ordered her to drive to a residential area in Troy, about eight miles away.

There, prosecutors said, Dubois sexually assaulted the woman before taking control of her vehicle and driving back toward the Collinsville business district. Before leaving, he covered her head with a coat and told her to count to 100. The woman survived and reported the attack, but she could not tell investigators exactly where in Troy she had been taken. That uncertainty became one of the first major obstacles in the investigation. Officers had to reconstruct a route traveled under threat and locate a crime scene that the victim had seen only briefly. Investigators did not have a known suspect, a precise address or an immediate DNA match that could connect the attack to a person already in a police database.

Prosecutors said the woman testified that she feared Dubois would kill her. She also said he referred to his military service and claimed he was entitled to assault her because the attack occurred on Veterans Day. The statement later became part of the sentencing dispute after defense attorneys asked the judge to consider Dubois’ background as a military veteran when deciding whether to impose a lower term.

Prosecutors argued that his military history should not reduce the punishment, particularly because he had invoked that service while terrorizing the victim. The state portrayed the comment not as an explanation for his conduct but as another way he attempted to control and degrade a woman who was already being threatened with a weapon. Investigators found a path toward the unidentified location through information recorded by the woman’s Apple Watch. Although her iPhone had been turned off, the watch retained movement data that allowed police to narrow the search to a general part of Troy. Officers began canvassing roads and nearby properties for evidence that might show where the vehicle had stopped.

On a secluded gravel roadway, an investigator found a discarded condom. Laboratory testing detected DNA from the woman and an unknown man, authorities said. The male profile did not match anyone in the law enforcement database used for routine comparisons, leaving police with physical evidence from the scene but no direct identification of the person who left it.

Collinsville police then used forensic investigative genetic genealogy, a method that can identify possible relatives of an unknown DNA contributor. The process does not by itself establish that a specific person committed a crime. Instead, it can generate family connections that investigators must research and compare with the other known facts of a case.

Authorities said the genealogy work produced a list of people believed to be biologically related to the unidentified man. Investigators reviewed those relationships and eventually focused on Dubois. They then continued gathering evidence to test whether the genealogical lead was consistent with the victim’s account, the location information and the circumstances surrounding the abduction.

The case became the first Madison County criminal investigation and prosecution to rely on forensic genealogical DNA, according to officials. Prosecutors emphasized that the technique was only one part of the evidence presented at trial. Jurors also heard testimony from the woman, information about the recovered DNA, surveillance material and recorded statements attributed to Dubois.

In a recording played for jurors, Dubois discussed choosing the coffee shop area because he believed women could be found there. He also acknowledged that the person he selected could have been anyone who happened to be alone, according to accounts of the trial. That evidence supported the state’s position that the attack was not the result of a dispute or prior relationship.

Prosecutors instead described the crime as a planned search for an isolated stranger in a public commercial area. The woman had no known connection to Dubois before he entered her vehicle. She was chosen because she was alone and could be moved away from the parking lot under threat of violence, the state argued.

The May trial ended after jurors deliberated for a little more than an hour. They found Dubois guilty of all counts presented to them, including two counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault, aggravated kidnapping and aggravated criminal sexual abuse offenses. He remained in the Madison County Jail while awaiting sentencing.

At the July hearing, Berkley imposed a total of 80 years for the aggravated sexual assault convictions, 30 years for kidnapping and 10 years for the sexual abuse convictions, according to court reporting. Some of those terms run at the same time, while others must be served one after another. The resulting judgment was announced as a 120-year sentence.

The minimum-service figure of about 68 years reflects the legal rules that apply to the individual terms. It does not reduce or replace the 120-year sentence entered by the court. Given Dubois’ age at sentencing, prosecutors said the punishment was intended to keep him incarcerated for the remainder of his practical life and prevent him from targeting another person in the community. Madison County State’s Attorney Tom Haine said the sentence provided accountability and public protection, while acknowledging that no prison term could undo what the woman experienced. Collinsville Police Chief Brett Boerm also credited investigators for continuing to pursue the case after the original DNA comparison produced no match.

Officials described the investigation as a combination of traditional police work and newer forensic tools. The watch data helped officers find the area. The physical search produced biological evidence. Genealogical research created a lead. Detectives then used interviews, records and other evidence to determine whether that lead could be supported in court.

The woman’s name has not been publicly released. News organizations and authorities have continued to protect her identity because she survived a sexual assault. Prosecutors said she cooperated throughout an investigation, prosecution and trial that lasted more than three years from the date of the attack to the sentencing hearing. Officials said she had married shortly before the trial concluded. They cited that development while recognizing that a guilty verdict and long prison sentence could not erase the fear, disruption and trauma caused by the abduction. Boerm described the judgment as a measure of justice rather than a complete end to the effects of the crime.

Dubois may pursue any post-trial or appellate remedies available under Illinois law. Unless a higher court changes the judgment, his convictions and 120-year sentence remain in effect, with the minimum-service calculation requiring him to remain imprisoned for decades.

Author note: Last updated Aug. 5, 2026.