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Jul 25, 2006 9:39 am US/Central
Police Searching For Sexual Predator In Elk River
by Esme Murphy
Elk River, Minn. (WCCO) ―
Police are warning Elk River, Minn. residents about a sexual predator who raped a woman at knifepoint.
The attack happened Sunday morning inside the woman's house.
At 4 a.m. Sunday, the man broke into the house through a locked patio door. He assaulted the woman for an hour while the woman's child was sleeping in a nearby room, police said.
Police said the same man apparently tried to break into the woman's house again Monday morning, but ran away when one of the woman's relatives stopped the suspect.
"This is a perpetrator who takes what he does very seriously, and is willing to take some extreme chances to come back to the same crime scene at a later date," said Chief Jeffrey Beahen, with the Elk River Police Department.
Police believe the suspect may have returned a second time because on the first night, the woman, in an effort to get her attacker to leave, indicated to the suspect that she would welcome his return.
Neighbor Dave Canales worries about his wife.
"She always said she wanted some kind of protection, a gun or something," Canales said. "It makes me kind of think of getting one now."
Police think the suspect many have staked his victim and may have watched her do yard work prior to the attack.
Police are asking neighbors to lock doors and windows, as they believe the suspect will try to strike again.
The suspect is described as a white man in his 20s or 30s. He is about 5 feet 8 inches and is physically fit. He has short, receding hair and does not have any body hair, police said.
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