Prosecutor reports some progress on thousands of untested Detroit rape kits

DETROIT – Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy updated Detroit's City Council on Tuesday about her efforts to process old, untested rape kits found in 2009.

About 1,600 of the 11,000 untested rape kits found sitting on the shelves at an abandoned Detroit police annex building have been tested. Worthy said DNA from the kits has helped identify nearly 100 serial rapists who have struck more than 20 cities.

Related: Serial rapists walk free in Detroit area

However, it takes up to $1,500 to process each kit and Wayne County government has contributed nothing to the effort. Prosecutor Worthy said budget cuts have cut her staff in half.

Read more: Wayne County prosecutor: 'We're treated like crap'

Last year, Gov. Rick Snyder signed a spending measure that allocates $4 million to test thousands of unprocessed rape kits in the city of Detroit.