The man designated as a “person of interest” in the death of a Cranston woman has been charged with a rape and robbery in Johnston.

Det. Maj. Michael Colucci said the case was re-opened last week when the victim decided to follow through on a rape charge she initially made on June 24.

“She flagged down a Providence officer when she got back to Providence and when she told Providence where it happened, they called us,” said Colucci. “We sent her to Rhode Island Hospital for a rape kit but she left before they did it. We tried calling her, we went to her house but she didn’t return our calls.”

Colucci said she finally contacted them last week, after she learned of the arrest of James A. Adams, 31, accused of robbing a woman in front of 391 Farmington Ave. in Cranston on June 29, where the body of a Cranston woman was found decomposing in the garage. That woman was subsequently identified as Mary S. Grier, 20, formerly of Dorchester, Mass., although the Rhode Island Medical Examiner has not yet released the name or the cause of death.

According to Colucci, Adams met the victim at a club in Providence and invited her back to his father’s house on School Street, where the rape and robbery occurred.

Adams was arraigned yesterday in District Court, where he will be charged with rape and robbery and probably with violating his probation stemming from a prior rape conviction in 2005, and with carrying a firearm after being convicted of a violent crime. He is being held without bail at the ACI.

Colucci said he is pleased that she decided to come forward after all.

“Understandably, she was afraid and frightened by what he might do to her if she pressed charges,” said Colucci. “After she heard what happened in Cranston, she changed her mind.”