A sketch of a suspect who raped a woman at a bus stop in Gaithersburg, Maryland, has been created using the suspect's DNA.
The woman was waiting for a bus at Watkins Mill Road and Travis Lane at 5:30 a.m. Friday, Oct. 6 when she was approached by a man.
He grabbed her and pulled her toward a wooded area next to the bus stop, Montgomery County police said. The man then raped the woman and left the area.
She ran for help and called police. She was taken to a hospital for treatment.
Nearly a month after the assault, no one has been arrested.
Using DNA evidence from the suspect, Parabon NanoLabs, a DNA technology company in Virginia, created a sketch showing how the suspect may look.
According to the sketch and information from the DNA, the suspect is a black man with a brown to dark brown skin color, brown eye color, black hair color and zero freckles. The suspect's ancestry is 79 percent African.
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While DNA can reveal the suspect's ancestry and certain features, a person's age, body mass, hair style and other descriptions cannot be determined through DNA.
"The dreadlocks in this particular composite came from working with the victim," Montgomery County Police Officer Rick Goodale said.
The victim had also described the suspect as a black man in his 20s and wearing a dark-colored checkered shirt or jacket.
Montgomery County police said detectives investigating the assault had reached out to Parabon NanoLabs for the sketch. Parabon specializes in DNA phenotyping, the process of predicting physical appearance and ancestry from unidentified DNA evidence.
Loudoun County authorities worked with the Reston laboratory in 2016 to try crack a 1987 cold case.
It is the Montgomery County Police Department’s third time working with Parabon for a DNA sketch, but the first time for a current active investigation, according to Goodale.
Parabon said the technology has been used by police in every state and 10 countries.
"Of the cases that have gone public, 1 in 5 of those have have been solved, that we know of," Dr. Ellen Graytak, a director at Parabon, said to News4 through a FaceTime interview.
Goodale said it’s a tool detectives may start using more if they are able to make arrests through the use of DNA sketches like this one.
"If we have it at our disposal...we wouldn't be doing our job if we didn't use every possible avenue to find these guys," Goodale said.
Goodale said it cost $3,500 for the DNA sketch.
Police said the sketch is a scientific estimate of what the suspect would look like based on his DNA, but it is not likely an exact replica of his actual appearance.
Detectives are urging anyone who may recognizes this suspect to call the Special Victims Investigations Division at 240-773-5050. Those who wish to remain anonymous may call Crime Solvers of Montgomery County toll-free at 1-866-411-TIPS (8477). Crime Solvers will pay a cash reward of up to $10,000 for information provided to their line that leads to an arrest and/or indictment for this sexual assault.
