Police in Nevada Hunt a Serial Rapist

[Ghost in the Machine]

Police in Nevada Hunt a Serial Rapist
Published: 2/17/08, 12:26 AM EDT
By MARTIN GRIFFITH

RENO, Nev. (AP) - A 19-year-old college student missing since she was abducted nearly a month ago was strangled by a serial rapist who has attacked at least two other women and may strike again, Reno police said Saturday.

An autopsy confirmed that a dead woman found Friday in a brush-covered field near a business park was Brianna Denison and that she died of strangulation, Reno Deputy Police Chief Jim Johns said.

Her body had been in the field for more than a week about 8 miles from the house where she last was seen early Jan. 20 at the edge of the University of Nevada, Reno, he said.

"I would say this is a serial rapist," Johns said at a news conference. "We have two, probably three (cases) linked through DNA."

"The totality of the information in this case leads us to believe it is a sexually motivated crime," he said. "I'm worried this guy is still out there, and I'm worried somebody else is going to get hurt."

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