D.C. police solved 17 cold cases this year, including the 1983 rape and stabbing death of a French woman in Northwest Washington, the first time DNA evidence has led to an arrest in such an old homicide in the District.

The 17 solved cold cases likely represent the most the District has cleared in a single year, due in part to new technology, the proliferation of DNA evidence databases and a focus by detectives to comb through old evidence. Cold cases are homicides that go unsolved for more than three years.