Charlotte-Mecklenburg police have announced that the man who raped an elderly woman in her Myers Park home last month also attacked another elderly woman almost 15 years ago. In both cases, police said, the unknown man broke into their homes. The attacks were about two miles apart, just outside uptown Charlotte, NC. And though police said they have a DNA profile that links the man to both cases, they don't know his identity.
Police said they made the connection between the two cases last week when evidence tested in the police's crime lab matched a DNA profile already logged into a database. Investigators delayed releasing the information to the public, said spokeswoman Officer Mandy Giannini, so they could alert the first victim's family. That woman has since died. At the time of the Aug. 15, 1991, attack, the woman was 85 years old. A man broke a window in the rear door of her Euclid Avenue apartment around 4 am, police said. He then assaulted her, they said, physically and sexually.
Those facts closely parallel the most recent attack. On July 16, a woman told police that a man broke into her home on Providence Road. He raped her and assaulted her, police said. That attack was also around 4 am. In initial reports, police listed the woman's age as 76 but said Thursday she was 75.
Police believe the rapist left her home on foot. Officers and dog teams searched the area that morning but found nothing. The nearly 15-year gap between attacks is unusual. But police said Thursday it's possible the man could have been incarcerated between 1991 and 2006.
It doesn't appear he is the red-underwear rapist wanted in several other attacks in the area, including the September rape of a jogger on East Boulevard and an attempted attack on Queens Road West near Croydon Road in January. The red-underwear rapist is described as a Hispanic man in his mid-30s with a dark olive complexion and close-cut hair. Police reported that when he attacked the jogger he was naked except for red underwear.
In contrast, police believe the attacker of the two elderly women is a balding and stocky black man, aged 35 to 60 who may be missing teeth. Although Charlotte-Mecklenburg police have investigated several cases of serial rapists attacking strangers recently, that doesn't necessarily mean it's a new, growing problem. It's comparatively rare for rapists to attack strangers. About seven out of 10 females who were sexually assaulted nationwide in 2004 knew their attackers, the Bureau of Justice Statistics says.
However, local rape investigators say rapists who attack strangers rarely strike just once. As DNA technology improves, police say they are able to connect more cases, making it appear that more serial rapists are attacking random women. More rapes are being reported in the city, however. In the first half of the year, police investigated 11 percent more rapes than in the same period of 2005, 174 cases compared to 157.
Have a Tip?
Police describe the rapist as a stocky black man between the ages of 35 and 60. He is about 5-foot-6 to 5-foot-8 and may be balding or have a receding hairline. He also may be missing some teeth. Call 911 or Crime Stoppers at (704) 334-1600 with tips. Source: The Charlotte Observer
