Police say new DNA evidence links one man to 3 different rapes in Seattle



SEATTLE -- Police say new DNA evidence links three rape cases from 2014 to one man, and now they’re looking for the community's help to serve justice.

Police say in 2014 an unnamed suspect preyed on three different women in a six-month time period. From February to July in 2014, police say ,this suspect approached the women on Capitol Hill in a dark SUV. Police say the suspect offered the victims a ride, drove them to the Miller Community Center parking lot, and raped them.

For years the crimes have remained unsolved, and the victims have been waiting for answers, but Detective Mark Jamieson with the Seattle Police Department says thanks to new DNA evidence, there are new leads in the case.

“These were violent crimes,” said Jamieson. “It doesn’t matter if it occurred yesterday or four years ago; there is someone responsible for this,” he added.

Due to backlogs with the state crime lab, it took years for Seattle police to get the DNA results from the rape kits, Jamieson says.

He says that new DNA evidence shows these three rapes from 2014, originally believed to be unrelated cases, were committed by the same man.

Jamieson says the new evidence is adding life to a case that had not seen any leads in years. He says victims have been able to provide more details about the incident and the suspect than they were able to around the time of the rapes.

Jamieson says law enforcement has even gotten enough information to come up with an artist-rendered sketch of the suspect.

“The detectives want to hold the person responsible accountable,” said Jamieson.

He hopes that with the new details, and the suspect sketch, the community will be able to help identify the suspect.

Documents show in 2014, there were 156 rapes in Seattle. Jamieson says because of the state crime lab backlogs, it’s possible there will be more -- and more breaks for unsolved Seattle rape cases coming.