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PW police join search for East Coast rapist
Prince William County police are joining the hunt for a serial rapist who has attacked at least 13 victims from Virginia to Rhode Island between 1997 and 2009.The most recent case involved two 17-year-old girls raped while trick-or-treating in Dale City on Halloween night, Oct. 31.
“The suspect, who remains at large and potentially continues to pose a risk to our communities, is generally described as a black male, of medium build, who is believed to be in his 30s or 40s,” said Prince William Police Chief Charlie Deane at a press conference on Dec. 16.
Police linked DNA evidence at each of the crime scenes to the same unnamed suspect. Four of the six Virginia cases occurred in Alexandria, one in Leesburg and the most recent in eastern Prince William, along Dale Boulevard.
The first five Virginia attacks happened between June 1999 and December 2001. From 1997 to 2001, five other attacks with the same DNA linkage occurred just over the Potomac River in Prince George’s County, Md.
After a five-year lull, DNA matching that of the suspect was found following a rape in Providence, R.I. on Nov. 28, 2006. The same thing happened again less than two months later at a crime scene in New Haven, Conn.
Generally, the suspect brandishes a knife or gun in order to threaten the victims and then attempts to rape them, sometimes trying to rob them as well.
Five of the six Virginia instances happened outdoors; in Leesburg, the suspect broke into a woman’s house.
“If somebody is thinking and thinks again about people they know, they love, family, friends, acquaintances; these facts, this timeline, the general description of the offender, and somebody who’s been in this region, lives in this region, is gone then to Connecticut (and) Rhode Island for whatever reason (and) is now back in this region: those are the key facts that we believe somebody should be able to help us identify this violent offender,” said Fairfax County police Col. Dave Rohrer.
Victims range in age from their teens to their 40s.
Deane said it's important that people consider anyone they know who fits the suspect's description -- even if they seem an unlikely candidate.
“People who may know the offender may not think that he could do such a crime, may not be capable of committing a crime. However, any information that may be helpful in identifying or eliminating this potential suspect would be helpful,” said Deane, reading from prepared remarks.
Rohrer said that accidentally bringing in the wrong person would allow police to cross a name off the list of potential suspects.
“This person may or may not have a violent criminal history, and please also, do not be afraid to give us a name,” he said. “The key point: we have DNA in these cases. So if we have a name, we can investigate the persons, the names that are provided to us, and we can exclude or rule out anybody the DNA does not match. So a person should not be afraid of misidentifying or giving the wrong person and having them prosecuted.”
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