ORLANDO, Fla. — Orlando police are searching for a man they said grabbed and raped a woman outside her home in Thornton Park on Saturday night.
Police said this is the second incident of a woman being attacked in the area this month, but that there is not enough information to know if the two incidents involve the same assailant.
They said DNA testing is underway to see if the evidence matches up.
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Around 9:30 p.m. Saturday, police said the woman was outside her home on East Jefferson Street when a man wearing all black with a bandana covering his face grabbed her and pulled her around the side of her house, where he raped her.
Officers said the man ran away from the scene and was not located after an extensive search, which included K-9s and a helicopter.
The woman described the man as 6 feet tall with a thin build and short black hair, wearing a black shirt and black shorts. He has not been identified.
In that case, police released a sketch of the suspect. See the composite sketch below:
The victim of Saturday's attack told officers she is unsure if she can help complete a composite sketch of her attacker.
Police said they have increased patrols of the Thornton Park neighborhood and are also reviewing surveillance video footage of the surrounding area to look for clues.
Neighbors said they were concerned when they saw the extensive search Saturday without an explanation from police about the search.
"Obviously with helicopters and search lights and K-9s running through your neighborhood, rumors started to fly. But we didn't know anything specific," resident Cassidy Temple said.
"Even the first one was a little too close for my comfort, and now knowing it was literally one block away from here, I'm extremely concerned. I have a lot of faith in our local police department and I really hope that OPD is taking this seriously."
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer told Channel 9 on Tuesday that he has confidence in the Orlando Police Department to solve the crimes.
"I encourage residents to be vigilant. If they see something, say something," he said. "I keep up to date pretty much every day on what's going on crime-wise in the city of Orlando. It's certainly out of character for that neighborhood, but we don't want to have that type of incident anywhere in the city of Orlando."
Anyone with information regarding either attack is asked to call Orlando police.
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