A 10th attack has been linked to a serial rapist and killer who assaulted D.C.-area women during the 1990s.
Authorities said Thursday that recently retested DNA evidence linked a July 20, 1996, sexual assault in a wealthy Northwest Washington neighborhood to the man dubbed the Potomac River Rapist.
Officials now say the Potomac River Rapist sexually assaulted eight women in Montgomery County and one in the District between May 1991 and November 1997, before killing a young woman in Georgetown in August 1998.
“This is a hunter of women,” said John Walsh, host of “America’s Most Wanted.”
The FBI and other law enforcement agencies launched a multimedia campaign in December to find the assailant, similar to an effort announced Wednesday in the Morgan Harrington case. Such campaigns have yielded the tips that led to the arrests of fugitive gangster James “Whitey” Bulger and the alleged East Coast Rapist.
In the newly identified case, a woman was grabbed while walking in the evening on the 4900 block of MacArthur Boulevard NW, dragged into the woods and sexually assaulted.
Authorities said DNA evidence obtained in 1996 from that case was retested in the past several months, but they would not say what prompted investigators to re-examine the evidence.
Investigators are “continuing to scour” past incidents for any other potential links, said David LeValley, assistant special agent in charge of the criminal division for the FBI’s Washington field office.
The Palisades neighborhood where the 1996 attack occurred is less than two miles from where intern Christine Mirzayan was slain in Georgetown in 1998. D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier said the attacker might have ties to the area, and she hoped longtime residents might remember something.
“We have two that are linked in this very small area,” she said.
Walsh said he is featuring the Potomac River Rapist case on his June 29 show.
“Somebody knows something about this guy,” he said. “Somebody suspects something.”
At the time of the incidents, the rapist was described as a black man who was between 5 feet 8 inches and 5 feet 11 inches tall, and had a medium build. He was believed to be in his late 20s to late 30s then, making him in his late 40s to late 50s now.
Anyone who has information can call D.C. police at 202-727-9099 or the FBI at 800-CALL-FBI (225-5324). Tipsters can also send a text message to 50411 or submit information online at tips.fbi.gov.
