Bellingham police ask public for help in finding suspect in kidnapping, sexual assaults
BELLINGHAM, Wash. -- The Bellingham Police Department is asking the public for help in locating a suspect in the kidnapping and sexual assault of two young women on May 27 in the area of Whatcom Transit Authority on Cordata Parkway.
Police said a man approached the two victims and asked for directions to Samish Way. The two women left with the suspect in his van. He later restrained the women at knifepoint and drove them to the Lynden and Sumas area in Whatcom County and sexually assaulted them in an unidentified barn, police said. The man then dropped off the victims in a secluded area of Lynden.
The suspect is described as a white male in his 30s, approximately 5-foot-6 and about 200 pounds, wearing a black shirt and black baseball hat with the New York Yankee logo on it. The male was driving a green or gray minivan.
"The detectives are reviewing similar cases and believe this case may be connected to at least two other cases," the department said on its Facebook page.
"We are asking for the public's help in identifying the suspect in this case or anyone who may have come in contact with him the night of May 27, 2016. If you recognize the van or loaned a van that looks like the one in the photograph, please contact detectives."
Van suspected in connection with crime
Also, two videos of the suspect have been released:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMh_AQxe96M&w=420&h=315]
"If you have any tips or information that you feel detectives should know, please call Detective Darla Wagner at 360-778-8767 or Detective Dan Kelsh 360-778-8690 or report it to the City's website tip line at www.cob.org/tips."