HUNTSVILLE, Texas — Behind every sketch is a story and a victim that's seared into Lois Gibson's mind.
"There've been 5,089 cases in my career," Gibson said. "But that person that did this is sick. If you talk to somebody that went through this ... you won't forget that."
She sketched a face that has haunted her since Feb. 12, 2001, more than 22 years ago.
"I can see by these lines that I remember crying," Gibson said.
Gibson said she wanted nothing more than to help get a violent rapist off the street.
"I wanted it to work so bad," Gibson said.
She waited, praying for an arrest. Days turned into weeks. Weeks turning into months. Before long, more than two decades had gone by and the case had gone cold.
"I was waiting 22 years for this monster to be caught," Gibson said. "That's a lot."
Earlier this month, the now-retired Gibson got a message that was hard to believe.
"Out of the blue, 22 years later, I get a text saying they caught this guy," Gibson said.
In that text from one of the investigators, a 2001 photo of the man who had now, finally, been arrested for the brutal sex assault in Walker County. She said the similarities to her now decades-old sketch are uncanny.
"It's pretty good, the mouth is almost perfect, the hair is almost perfect," Gibson said. "I really do know this is the man."
So do investigators. Huntsville PD arrested Patrick Daryl Smith on Christmas Eve last year. He was indicted on aggravated sexual assault charges. Court records point to DNA evidence linking him to the violent rape. He was 29 years old at the time of the alleged crime. Smith is now 51 years old.
"It's really awful not knowing and waiting this long," Gibson said.
For Gibson, it's closure in a case and hopefully overdue justice for a survivor who lived a nightmare.
"I know my witnesses, they have trouble sleeping," Gibson said. "God bless her. Now, she's going to sleep good now that he's caught."
Gibson said she expects to have to testify should the case go to trial. Right now, Smith is out on a $250,000 bond. He's due back in court on Oct. 26.