![Lab worker examines DNA evidence [Image source: MC2 Samantha Thorpe - US Navy]](https://staticr1.blastingcdn.com/media/photogallery/2018/6/20/660x290/b_502x220x82/image-source-mc2-samantha-thorpe-us-navy_2036455.jpg "Lab worker examines DNA evidence [Image source: MC2 Samantha Thorpe - US Navy]")
The Metropolitan Police, FBI, and the US Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia re-energized their hunt for the DC-area Hotel Rapist on June 19. The unknown fugitive stands accused of raping six women in the Washington, DC area over a seven-year period. Currently, there is a $45,000 reward for any information that could lead to the suspect's capture.
Hotel Rapist
According to Fox News, the US Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia broke with tradition on Tuesday when they indicted and charged "John Doe," a stand-in for the wanted rapist, based on DNA evidence alone.
Metropolitan Police spokesman Peter Newsham said in a news conference on Tuesday that the decision to indict a DNA profile was done because of the 15-year statute of limitations placed on the crimes attributed to the DC-area Hotel Rapist.
The New York Post reported on Tuesday, June 19 that local and federal investigators have yet to determine the criminal's identity, but DNA evidence collected from crime scenes in 2002 and 2003 conclusively prove that one individual was responsible for the crimes attributed to the DC-area Hotel Rapist. A composite sketch of the suspect created by the FBI shows a young black male aged somewhere between 20 years old and 39 years old (the suspect would today be at least 40 years old).
The FBI's "Seeking Information" sheet on the suspect also says that he is somewhere between 5-feet-7-inches and 5-feet-10-inches tall, has a medium to stocky build, and once owned a box cutter with the name "Debbie" written on it.
Crimes
According to both the New York Post and Fox News, the DC-area Hotel Rapist is suspected of committing six rapes in Washington, DC, Maryland, and Virginia.
The first known sexual assault took place in August 1998, while the most recent sexual assault occurred in February 2006. The suspect is also believed to be guilty of several DC-area hotel break-ins as well. The FBI's "Seeking Information" sheet states that the DC-area Hotel Rapist mostly attacked hotel housekeepers as they were cleaning hotel rooms.
In some instances, the attacker used a box cutter, a necktie, or some kind of cord to threaten his victims into compliance.
At one 2003 crime scene at Washington's Renaissance Hotel, the suspect dropped a ring that contains an Aztec or Mayan-like sun symbol on its face. The "Debbie" box cutter was left behind by the suspect after a December 1, 2002 attack at a Hilton located in Silver Spring, Maryland.
