Potomac River Rapist linked to District attack in 1996

Forensic evidence has been linked from a 1996 sexual assault to nine similar crimes, including the murder of a 28-year-old intern, committed against women by the same suspect; a man authorities call the Potomac River Rapist. The evidence, discovered after DNA from a 1996 case in the District was recently retested, was reported at a news conference on Thursday held by D.C. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier, investigators, and agents from Montgomery County police and FBI.

“There’s some connection he had to this area. It could be a neighbor, it could be a family member. Any little bit of information might be the piece that identifies this guy,” said Detective Todd Williams, the Metropolitan Police Department’s lead investigator on the case. The attack on July 20, 1996, was the second of a line that runs from May 1991 to August 1998 to have taken place in D.C. The other attacks occurred in Montgomery County. Authorities hope this link will help generate new witnesses or other avenues for their investigation in the hunt for the suspect, who may or may not be alive.