NEWS BAY AREA. >> HI, I'M SARA DONCHEY. A MAN CONVICTED OF KIDNAPPING AND RAPE MORE THAN 16 YEARS AGO ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COUNTRY IS BEHIND BARS TONIGHT HERE IN CONTRA COSTA COUNTY. INVESTIGATORS SAY THE SO-CALLED BAD BREATH RAPIST HAD BEEN HIDING OUT IN THE DANVILLE AREA FOR YEARS. OUR LAUREN TOMS TALKED TO A MEMBER OF THE TASK FORCE THAT FINALLY TRACKED HIM DOWN. >> Reporter: CHRIS WAS TASKED WITH TRACKING DOWN VIOLENT FUGITIVES AS PART OF THE U.S. MARSHAL'S SERVICE. AND EARLIER THIS YEAR WHEN HE RECEIVED A CALL FROM AUTHORITIES IN MASSACHUSETTS THAT A CONVICTED RAPIST MAY BE HIDING OUT IN THE BAY AREA, HE STEPPED IN. >> SOMEONE WHO'S BEEN ON THE RUN FOR 17 YEARS IS PROBABLY GOTTEN PRETTY COMFORTABLE. IT'S UNIQUE THERE HASN'T BEEN ADDITIONAL CRIMES THAT MAYBE WE HAVEN'T SEEN, ESPECIALLY WITH SOMETHING AS VIOLENT AS IT WAS. >> Reporter: IN 2007, TUEN KIT LEE WAS CONVICTED OF VIOLENTLY RAPING A COWORKER OUTSIDE BOSTON. HE FLED THE STATE BEFORE SENTENCING. 17 YEARS LATER, CHRIS PLAYED A ROLE IN HIS ARREST 3,000 MILES AWAY. THE CASE HAD GONE COLD, HE SAYS, BUT IT'S THE INVESTIGATOR WHO IS CAUGHT A BREAK IN A SOCIAL MEDIA POST MONTHS AGO THAT TIPPED THEM OFF TO HIS PRESENCE IN DANVILLE. >> COLD CASES, THEY GET SO GRUESOME SOMETIMES YOU WANT TO GIVE UP. YOU THINK YOU'VE DONE EVERYTHING, INTERVIEWED EVERYONE, THINK THERE'S NOTHING LEFT TO DO. AND IT JUST TAKES THAT EFFORT FOR SWN TO JUST KEEP PUSHING. >> Reporter: ACCORDING TO A NEWS RELEASE FROM THE MASSACHUSETTS STATE POLICE, WHICH PLACED A $10,000 BOUNTY ON LEE, INVESTIGATORS CONNECTED HIM TO THE OWNER OF A HOME IN DANVILLE OWNED BY A FEMALE FLOWER SHOP OWNER BELIEVED TO BE HIS PARTNER WHO HAD NO IDEA OF LEE'S VIOLENT PAST. AFTER PULLING HIM OVER NEAR AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, HE ULTIMATELY CONFESSED. >> THERE WAS A MOMENT OF DENIAL FOR HIM. I THINK IN SHOCK, WHERE HE, YOU KNOW, DIDN'T REALLY WANT TO SAY WHO HE WAS. BUT HE KNEW THE GIG WAS UP. >> Reporter: IN 2005, CBS NEWS BOSTON ANNOUNCED LEE WAS ARRESTED AFTER ONE OF HIS EMPLOYEES ALLEGED HE HAD BROKEN INTO HER HOME, TIED TO HER A BED, AND RAPED HER. HE WAS IDENTIFIED AND CONFIRMED THROUGH DNA. >> THE VICTIM LATER TOLD POLICE THE ATTACKER WORE A SKI MASK, BUT THERE WAS SOMETHING FAMILIAR ABOUT HIM, HIS BREATH. BAD BREATH. >> Reporter: THAT KRISTIC DUBBED HIM THE BAD BREATH RAPIST. AUTHORITIES HAVE RELEASED LIMITED INFORMATION ABOUT HOW HE SPENT THE LAST 15 YEARS OR HOW THEY PIECED TOGETHER THE ARREST. >> WAS ABLE TO KIND OF CONTINUE IN HIS WAYS, YOU KNOW, BEING A QUIET PERSON WHO, YOU KNOW, WORKED SOME ODD JOBS TO LAY LOW. >> Reporter: HE SAYS HE EXPECTS MEMBERS OF THIS QUIET COMMUNITY TO FEEL A SENSE OF SHOCK, BUT HE HOPES THEY CAN REST EASY KNOWING LEE IS NO LONGER A THREAT. BUT THE WORK, HE SAYS, STILL CONTINUES. >> WHILE WE ALL TAKE A MOMENT TO APPRECIATE WHAT WE HAD, THAT THIS WAS SAFE, WE ALL JUST NOW HAVE TO MOVE ON TO THE NEXT CASE, BECAUSE THERE'S MANY MORE PEOPLE THAT NEED TO BE ARRESTED AND MANY MORE THAT WANT JUSTICE. >> RIGHT NOW LEE IS IN
