Post by HeadMarshal on Nov 20, 2015 13:18:58 GMT -5
(Above photo credit: amw.com archives)
Sex: Male
Race: White
Hair: (Color, Description, Facial Hair) Black or Brown
Traits and Habits
Last seen wearing:
Green/tan ballcap
Green t-shirt with cartoon alien graphic
Green silky shorts with Boston Celtics logo
Black and blue athletic shoes
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WHAG NEWS - Twenty-five years ago, the lives of three young girls were changed by the actions of one man, whose identity is still unknown.
Now, a series of unsolved kidnappings and sexual assaults remains a mystery to police. For the past 15 years, it's a kidnapping case that one officer thinks about all the time.
"Every police officer has one case and this is mine. This is the one that I want to see get solved," said Trooper Jeff Brock, a criminal investigator with Pennsylvania State Police.
On September 19, 1999, Trooper Brock was called to a wooded crime scene in rural West Virginia after a 12-year-old girl was taken from a Cairnbrook, Pa. neighborhood and sexually assaulted.
Since then, the case has gone cold with no arrests. But it continues to stick in Brock's mind.
That's something Hagerstown Police Detective Nick Varner understands all too well.
On September 10 and October 16,1988, two similar crimes happened over state lines in Hagerstown. In both cases, two little girls were kidnapped while riding their bikes in the alleyways, and taken to the woods where they were also sexually assaulted. Detective Varner is the fifth detective to have this case, but he hopes to be the last.
"This is one of those rare cases that in spite of how old it is, it's still really important, and the reason it's important is that this person is still out there," said Detective Varner. "They've not been caught in any of these cases, and we know it's continuing and that this is not just something that happened in 1988 and went away."
All three cases were connected in 2004 when advancements in DNA technology allowed investigators to submit DNA samples from these crimes, showing they were all linked to the same man.
"When we found out in 2004 that we had a DNA match, it was an incredible feeling...because we'd been frustrated for a lot of years. And then to find out that the person who did this is still unidentified - I mean, he did this twice before the 1999 kidnapping," said Trooper Brock. "And we still are no closer. We have three unsolved kidnappings with physical evidence, and we can't make an arrest. It's very hard, it's a hard pill to shallow."
As investigators started comparing these cases, they found several specific similarities - the way the suspect took girls, how he treated each of them and even his intimate knowledge with these small towns. Police said this attacker also wore distinct clothing, and even drove a teal-colored hatchback style car during each crime.
But investigators said these crimes could have been worse.
"In most times when kidnappings occur, this type of kidnapping...the victim is probably going to be recovered but she's not going to be alive," said Trooper Brock. "And so we were very lucky to get our victim and then to find out there were two other victims that also survived this type of thing."
Decades later, it's a moment that one of the victims has overcome, but her instincts say her attacker is still out there. She agreed to be interviewed, but asked not to be identified.
"He is still out there and you know we're not going to let him get away with this. We're going to catch him eventually, we just have to keep working on it - no matter how much time has went past," said the victim from the October 16, 1988 case.
But with no motive, no arrest and no suspect, it's as if he's faded into the shadows until new information comes to light.
If you have any information or tips that could assist police in this investigation, you're asked to call the Hagerstown Police Department at 301-791-2628
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Thoughts? This case was last aired on AMW in 2004. The sketch while probably very accurate in 1999, does not likely depict the unidentified serial child abductor very well in 2015. So if he doesn't get linked to another crime or get arrested and have his DNA entered in the system, then we need the memory of readers in the area to recall people like this who lived there between 1988-1999.
Admin Note: If you have any (news-related) updates on this case, please contact us here: amwfans.com/thread/1662/website-contact-form
