Phoenix police identify suspect in 1986 kidnapping and sexual assault of toddler

PHOENIX (AZFamily) – Nearly four decades after a toddler was brutally attacked in Phoenix, authorities say a suspect has been arrested.

In 1986, a stranger abducted a toddler from their bedroom in Phoenix in the middle of the night. Police say the kidnapper took the child to a construction site, sexually assaulted them and ran away when the toddler started screaming.

At dawn, a couple delivering newspapers found the child and called the police. Authorities were able to reunite the child and parents as detectives began an investigation to find the suspect. Officers collected evidence and interviewed the child, but were unable to identify a suspect.

In 2011, a cold case detective re-examined the case using DNA evidence. He sent evidence to the Phoenix Police Department’s crime lab, where an unknown male DNA profile was returned.

The Phoenix Police Department’s crime lab entered the DNA into the national criminal database known as CODIS, where it showed the DNA matched a 1992 sexual assault in Henderson, Texas. Authorities say the Texas case was eerily similar to the Arizona case: A suspect broke into a home, sexually assaulted a child and then took off.

During this investigation, detectives collected a description of the suspect and DNA evidence, but clues were lacking.

The case lingered for another 11 years before Phoenix Police Detective Javier Quezada took over.

“Detective Quezada really wanted to put an end to these victims. And I think that’s where his heart was at the time. That’s the reason he kept going, because it’s a difficult thing. You have a DNA profile from two heinous crimes,” said Phoenix Police Sgt. Aaron Rodriguez, who referred the case to Det. Quezada.

Quezada worked determinedly for two years to find the suspect, and authorities eventually identified him as David Roy Mundt using forensic genealogy. Mundt lived in Longview, Texas, about 30 miles from Henderson.

Mundt is currently being held on a $1,000,000 bond pending extradition to Phoenix.(Phoenix Police/Gregg County Sheriff’s Office)

On August 6, 2024, Quezada and the Texas Department of Public Safety took Mundt into custody. Mundt is currently being held on a $1,000,000 bond pending extradition to Phoenix.

“When they get to make that call where an arrest is made or a suspect is identified, that’s really satisfying for them and it’s really satisfying for me,” said Sgt. Rodríguez. “The victims are not forgotten and there is a dedicated group that is actively working and giving everything to find a solution.”

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