Police have turned to digital billboard technology to catch the East Coast Rapist.
Authorities in Fairfax and Prince William counties in a partnership with the FBI and other police agencies have posted sketches on digital billboards in states where the rapist is believed to have struck – in Connecticut, Maryland, Rhode Island and Virginia.
The most recent attack is believed to have happened Oct. 31, 2009 in Dale City, when three female teenagers were approached and two raped as they were walking home from a night of trick-or-treating.
The attack happened behind Glendale Plaza, as a man approached the victim’s –– two of the girls were age 16 and the other 17 –– from behind with a gun.
He led them into a clearing in a wooded ravine and raped the two 17-year-olds while the 16-year-old looked on, police say.
The 16-year-old was able to use her cell phone to text her mother for help, but as police closed in the man was able to get away, police said.
Following the attack, the two 17-year-old girls were treated at a local hospital and the 16-year-old was not injured.
In all, the serial rapist has been tied to 12 attacks that began in February 1997.
“These billboards give each local police department, and the FBI, an added edge to identifying, locating and apprehending the subject,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge of the Criminal Division, Ronald Hosko. “The public is the most important tool law enforcement has for solving crime.”
The billboard’s come after authorities launched a new website aimed at reaching out to the public to get more information about the serial rapist’s whereabouts.
His victims have been black, white or Hispanic females, and he generally approaches victims on foot and threatens them with a knife or handgun, asks for money to give the impression he is robbing the victim. The serial rapist has never been known to take anything from his victims, however.
In the earliest assaults, the man approached his victims on bicycles, authorities said.
He’s been known to wear a black mask or hooded sweatshirt to conceal his face.
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