Police seek public's help in finding rape suspect

The Mountain Home Police Department is renewing its call for the public to help it solve the case of an attempted forcible rape in the Stonetree and War Eagle subdivision area on April 6.

Authorities released further details about the suspect in the incident. The suspect was described as a caucasian male in his mid to late 20s, approximately 5'10", of medium build, with short brown hair and dark eyes.

At the time of the attack he was wearing a hooded grey sweatshirt. In addition, he may have been driving a dark-colored pick-up truck with no front plate. Such a vehicle had been seen in the area several times prior to the attack.

The assailant also may have suffered some injuries to his arms, such as scratches or bite marks, or bruising from a bite.

Police are asking that anyone who may know of someone who displayed those types of injuries around that time to contact them.

The woman who was attacked had opened her back door to let her dog out that morning, when the assailant grabbed her and forced her into her house. She fought off the attacker, who ran away on foot. Because of the trauma of the incident, she has been unable, so far, to provide a composite sketch of her assailant, a problem that isn't unknown in such cases, according to Police Chief Tom Berry.

"We are very frustrated with this investigation," he admitted. "Like any crime, we take it personally, but a violent crime like this is just something we don't find acceptable."

Berry said his department had interviewed a number of "persons of interest," all of whom had been "very cooperative," but had come up with no suspects so far.

"We're checking out every lead. We don't want people to think that they might be falsely accusing someone. We treat all the people we talk to with dignity."

But there is a strong sense of frustration throughout the police department, and concern that they must catch the attempted rapist before he strikes again.

Berry said his department has had a number of phone calls concerning possible peeping toms, or other unusual circumstances, "and we get to them right away. We'd rather it turned out to be nothing, than have someone not call us and have something happen."

Berry said his department has been in consultation with other law enforcement agencies throughout the region, but all signs point to someone who knows, and therefore probably lives within, this community.

"We continue to remind people to lock their doors, be aware of their surroundings, and if they see something out of the ordinary, call us right away. Don't wait. We need to be able to respond then. Calling us a few hours later won't help.

"If you hear a disturbance in your back yard, or you just go home and things don't look right, call us.

"People need to recognize that this is a growing, changing community, and that means old habits, like leaving doors unlocked, just don't work any more."

Berry noted at the same time that the victim had actually done all of the right things, normally locking her doors, for example. "But when she opened the door, he took the opportunity.

"Maybe this person has been in other neighborhoods," casing an area, Berry said. "We want to hear about it," if there are any suspicious persons or behaviors in a neighborhood that don't seem right.

"We're exhausting every investigative resouce at our fingertips to resolve this case," Berry said, but right now, he admitted, they're going to need some kind of a break. "This is a violent crime. We're concerned for the people in our community.

"This case will be worked as long as we have anything to go on," he said, "but we need help." He said giving out the extra details concerning the subject, which had been withheld earlier for investigative reasons, might help jog people's memories."

Anyone who has any information concerning the crime should contact Det. Lt. Julee Bunderson at the Mountain Home Police Department at 587-9637 ext. 202, after 5 p.m., or weekends, or call 587-2100 and have a dispatcher contact the on call detective.

A $5,000 reward has been offered by friends and family of the victim for information that would lead to the arrest and conviction of the assailant.